Memories in the Mist
by serradragon
Summary: Naruto vanished at the age of ten and everyone believes the blonde dead. But on a mission to Wave Sasuke encounters a strange ninja that looks identical to his missing friend. Is it Naruto or is the blonde really dead? NO PAIRINGS NOT YAOI!
1. Chapter 1 Forgotten Past

**Memories in the Mist**

By Serradragon

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did why would I be writing fanfics. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story. Just so you know this is my first story to be posted on-line.

There most likely will not be any pairings in this story. And no I will not be doing yaoi. Don't like writing it oh well. (If you squint you might see some sxn but not intentional)

Summary: Naruto vanished at the age of ten and everyone believes the blonde dead. But on a mission to Wave Sasuke encounters a strange ninja that looks identical to his missing friend. Is it Naruto? Or is the blonde really dead?

…………………………………….. point of view change

"Blah" talking

'_Blah'_ thoughts

_Blah_ dreams, memories, ect.

Well here you go! Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Forgotten Past

Standing in the center of a forest clearing without moving was the cloaked figure of a ninja. The moonlight was bright enough to light the whole clearing this night. His clothes were worn out looking, well what you could see of them from under the ragged black cloak, which gave them the appearance of a shadow. The sleeves on his shirt were frayed on the ends, as were his black pants, a result of his intense training. One could easily tell the clothes were their only set. Taking a deep breath, the ninja drew their katana from its sheath that was tied to their left hip. Then they launched forward into the mass of moving targets that had been set up as though some signal only they were aware of had been sounded.

Each target was a crudely made circle produced by cutting them from logs. On every one was painted an ideal strike zone as either a dot or ring of black ink. The first target was stationed near the northern edge and was sliced clean in half. The soft whooshing caught their attention and they leapt into the air to avoid the swinging log. His rotation gave him enough momentum to flip over the log and sever the cords holding it up. There was a thud as the massive log crashed into the earth and rolled a little ways to the side. Landing deftly on their feet the figure slid into a crouch as they ducked to avoid another low swinging target. Flipping the sword up to an inverted position, the blade cut clean through the log's length as it passed overhead. The two halves landed across the previous fallen log and formed a sort of ramp and barricade. Hearing no more logs he stood and leapt over the obstacle.

Running forwards he continued cutting down the pop up targets, the blade becoming no more than a flash of silver in the moonlight. The katana sliced through each one in turn with a frightening precision. Upon cutting the tenth one in half they snapped a hidden wire causing a rain of kunai to come from the trees above them. Bringing the sword up and jumping once again, they managed to deflect the lethal projectiles with sharp metallic clangs and thuds as the metal became imbedded in the surrounding trees and ground. Another log headed directly for the cloaked figure then, this one twice as fast as the other two. Spinning they planted their hands on the swinging pendulum and vaulted over it while corkscrewing in midair. He brought his sword down hard splitting the log in half. Hitting the ground and rolling they sprang forward to go at the last target, which was located back on the south side of the clearing. Like the others the target fell apart with only a slight flash of light.

After striking the last target the mysterious ninja flipped straight backwards and landed with one knee bent. One could tell by the rise and fall of the figures shoulders that they were slightly out of breath from the training exercise. He then sheathed his sword with a slight rasp and click as the hilt of the katana locked with the sheath. It was then the sound of applause permeated the silent clearing. A soft clapping that came from a single observer that was behind them in the trees. From under the cloak's hood, two piercing blue eyes became visible as their owner opened them, flecks of silver mingling amongst the blue. The said shinobi then turned around to see who it was watching him.

"You've gotten much better Fox. I'd say you have a new personal best." A masked ninja said from the shadows. They wore a dark green robe over loose dark brown pants that went to mid-shin. The white mask with its crude red spiral and their long black hair in a bun leaving their long bangs framing their face, were the only identifying marks on the shinobi.

"Zabuza-sama will be very pleased." They said in a cold voice reminding one of snow, while stepping forward. Fox turned to face the masked one head on, his black cloak falling into place around him, hiding nearly everything about him. It was as though they were a shadow come to life.

"Arigato Haku. Do we have another job?" the cloaked one asked coming closer to the mist hunter-nin. The first could sense that the masked one was pleased that he had caught on to his reason for seeking him out. He knew that behind that porcelain white mask was a smile reserved for when he accomplished something.

"Yes, it's for a man named Gatou…." Haku said explaining the details to his friend and partner. Fox listened with rapt attention, anything less could get them all killed.

* * *

In the Village hidden in the Leaves, another team was also meeting to get their assignment for their next mission. The first member was a boy near the age of twelve. His hair was darker than the night sky and his eyes a steely charcoal grey. He wore a royal blue t-shirt with a high collar. It was easy to see the boy had money, one of the blessed clan heirs of Konoha. On the teen's back was a red and white fan the symbol of his clan, a symbol known through out the shinobi world. The Uchiha. Also part of his ensemble was a pair of white knee length shorts, and a set of white arm warmers.

His partner was a female and had the most unusual hair color on the planet. It was bright bubblegum pink and the color was all-natural. On top of that it was long and free flowing, something not recommended for active duty ninja. She wore red oriental style type dress with white trim that would have to be difficult to move in on the field. Her forehead protector was currently being used as a hair band. She too was around the age of twelve.

The field contained a small body of water off to one side and trees surrounding three sides. Near the center were three posts reaching around five and a half feet tall. This was training ground 7, where their team name came from. The two were currently waiting for their sensei to explain the mission parameters. They couldn't for the life of them explain why they still showed up to the meeting site on time. Their good for nothing lazy instructor was never on time, in fact they truly believed if he ever did show up on time hell would freeze over. Still the whole shinobi creed kept them on time as tardiness was unbecoming of a shinobi.

At precisely three hours past the scheduled time to meet, the man poofed into the clearing. Their face was hidden by a mask that reached to right below his eyes, and his headband was tilted down over one eye. The mass that could be called hair was a silvery grey that defied all gravity.

"Yo." He said waving; his visible eye was shaped like upside-down u. It was obvious he was smiling even from under his mask. Neither of his students were amused at whatever was so funny. The rabid fan girl jumped up and like always began the morning tradition of yelling at their teacher.

"YOU'RE THREE HOURS LATE KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!!" the pink haired one screeched. Her other partner didn't say anything but it was obvious he was aggravated. It was almost possible to feel the wave of aggravation coming off of the boy.

"Sorry I got lost on the road of life." The jounin replied rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before he closed the small orange book that was in his other hand. It was a bold-faced lie. A blind man could tell he enjoyed messing with his students.

"LIAR!" Sakura yelled in her screeching voice. The boy, Sasuke winced slightly as the kunoichi's voice reminded him of nails on stone. Still he refused to show it, to show anything that could be seen as weakness. The air suddenly tensed then, as the jounin got serious. Since it was rare the man was ever serious or not reading his beloved smut, the two teens quickly paid attention to what he was going to say.

"Alright team, our next mission is an escort assignment. The client's name is Tazuna and we will be escorting him to his home in the land of the waves. It is a C-rank so this will be a little more difficult than previous missions. Bring your gear and rations to the main gate by 0800 tomorrow morning." Kakashi said briefing his team. 'Who's the greatest sensei now?' he thought wanting to see the looks of glee on his two student's faces. They'd been gripeing about lame missions for a month now and he'd delivered. Looking to Sakura he noticed she seemed to be pleased with the arrangement. The girl nearly had stars in her eyes.

He looked again at Sasuke only to be disappointed. The boy was still apathetic, even at the prospect of getting a tougher mission. Kakashi mentally sighed and ran a hand through his crazy silver hair that looked like he had never brushed it. Small animals could have been hiding in there and no one would have noticed. The last Uchiha just sullenly walked off towards his home without saying anything.

'_I know they were close but that was 2 years ago, he needs to move on. Naruto wouldn't want him like this.'_ He thought watching Sasuke walk towards his home. Sakura followed after him like the love struck puppy she was. Still she did make sure he took care of himself, so he supposed it was ok not to say anything to the girl about it. Most likely it was a phase she'd soon grow out of, girls usually did after a few weeks.

'_Besides, she stays out of my room, and Sasuke will kill her if she goes in his room or Naruto's.'_ With that thought, he went to do a little private reading as he walked off pulling out his small orange book, giggling the whole way to his home nearby. (Three guesses as to what.)

The next morning Sasuke observed the client with disinterest. _'He's a master bridge builder.'_ He thought skeptically. _'This is a joke.'_ He was thoroughly annoyed.

The old man was drunk and apparently believed that he and Sakura were worthless. It was a close call that Kakashi only just managed to grab Sakura as the screaming girl tried to stab the client for insulting her Sasuke-kun. Sasuke merely growled and glared at the drunk before ignoring the man entirely. Overall he only held Sasuke's attention for about…oh let's say 30 seconds.

* * *

Zabuza was at a meeting with Gatou to go over the more specific details of the assignment and more importantly the…benefits…of finishing it. Fox stood off to the side of Zabuza listening to everything that was said and waiting for his orders. Those orders included analyzing their…employer, to put it best. He was a short little fat man and very oily looking in Fox's opinion.

'_Who wears sunshades in a dark room?'_ he wondered looking at the sunshades and the man's cheap tacky suit. He was very much like a fat, spoiled cat.

If necessary, he was also there to back up his boss in the even that Gatou was dumb enough to sell them to the enemy. It had happened before and they had seemed much smarter than this idiot they were currently taking orders from. Even though nothing was going on, Fox was a little excited. Normally Haku went. Still he couldn't let that get in the way.

'_Maybe he's too stupid to try it.'_ Fox thought eyeballing the short fat man. Snapping out of his thoughts, he returned his attention to the discussion at hand.

"This is who I want you to take care of." Gatou said sliding a picture across the desk. Zabuza picked up the picture and looked at it immediately finding a problem.

"You hired me to kill an old man?" Zabuza said looking at the picture, agitated that his skills were being wasted on something so trivial.

'_There had better be a good reward for this. It's a total waste of my time.'_ Zabuza thought in annoyance. He looked across the desk to where the fat man sat with his chin resting on the back of his hands propped up on his elbows. The man seemed calm considering who he was dealing with. His hand itched to grasp his sword's handle that sat over his right shoulder and bring the massive blade down on the arrogant bastard. He stayed his hand on the grounds it was bad form to kill clients. Unlike Zabuza Fox could smell the distinct smell of sweat with a hint of ammonia.

'_He's scared shitless of Zabuza!'_ Fox realized and stopped the smirk before it made its way to his face. He wasn't supposed to draw attention to himself, and if he allowed himself to chuckle, Zabuza would…remind him not to as that would draw attention.

"Yes. Currently they are on route here. That's not the problem; the problem is that he has Konoha ninja acting as his body guards." He said pushing up his tacky glasses that he didn't need and were too small. "My informants tell me at least three ninja." Gatou noticed the demon of the mist was getting agitated, a very bad thing to let happen if you were partial to your life. "Of course the reward is substantial." He finished quickly.

Zabuza smirked

'Konoha, huh. This might get interesting.' Zabuza thought glancing at his young accomplice. He threw the picture at his partner who caught the photo and stared at it intently. He then looked up to find out what he was needed to do.

"Fox, you know your job." And the cloaked shinobi nodded and walked out without asking any questions. Gatou was surprised at this.

"You're letting a child handle this?" he asked suspiciously. Zabuza smirked and followed the boy to the door. He chuckled to himself, which unnerved the small man even more.

"That boy is far from normal, but no. I'll be taking care of the old man, Fox has a different job." He said going out the door. Gatou wondered just what was so strange about the kid.

* * *

Fox jumped down to the clearing and looked around trying to sense the other ninja in the area. Feeling something to his left the cloaked form returned to the trees and continued searching. _'Let's see they should be somewhere in the area if the informant's information is accurate.'_ Fox thought scanning the path. He could hear the sounds of a battle nearly half a mile away due to his enhanced senses. He grinned excitedly since there weren't many others out here.

'I bet that is where I'll find those Konoha ninja.' He thought running in the direction of the fight. He slowed reaching the tree line, careful to conceal himself.

'_No sense in getting involved in a fight that's not my business.'_ Zabuza had warned him to be especially careful with these ninja, though he never said why.

'_Why does that name sound familiar?'_ he wondered turning the name around in his mind examining it. Fox quickly squashed those thoughts and focused on the scene in front of him. _'This isn't the time to figure things out.' _He told himself. Ninja who were distracted died quickly; Zabuza had proven that to both him and Haku many times.

He immediately recognized the two attacking ninja as two of Zabuza's former comrades from the mist village. They attacked in their trademark tag team and used a chain and claw set unique to them only. That wasn't exactly a good thing since shinobi didn't need to draw attention to themselves or leave calling cards.

'_The demon brothers? Why are they here?' _Fox thought frowning at his observation. It was strange that they were attacking someone when they usually only attacked someone they were hired to kill. His attention then went to the other shinobi, which by the symbol on their headbands identified them as the Konoha ninja he was looking for. He also recognized the bridge builder from the photo who seemed to be cowering behind a girl with freakishly pink hair that had to be a genin. He couldn't stop his eyebrow from raising at that site.

'_Does she want to be killed? With hair like that it seems like it._' He thought looking at her. There was not one thing about her that said she had any skill at being a shinobi. She had no muscle definition that any kunoichi had and he could smell a faint cherry blossom scent that he knew wasn't native to the area. Even her out fit, a Chinese style red dress with leggings, pointed out that she wasn't serious about her job. It was impractical and did little in the way of camouflage. Add in the long hair and you had the weakest link in the team.

Fighting off the demon brothers was a boy about his age who was also a genin. His dark shirt and white shorts were better suited for the job. He was from a clan too, judging by the crest on the back of his shirt. The small red and white circle seemed like it should ring a bell in his mind. Knowing time was limited he scanned the area. Judging by the sliced log the remaining member of the team had done a substitution jutsu. Clearly they were skilled, more so than the other two. That meant there was a teacher, a jounin most likely, meaning the two around his age would be genin. Fox could find no trace of their chakra anywhere. They were good, whoever they were. It only confirmed his suspicion that the last was in fact a jounin.

'_Where are you?'_ he wondered continuing his search. About that time a silver haired man clothes lined one of the brothers and planted his foot in the other's face knocking him out as he crashed into the ground.

'_Most definitely a jounin.'_ Fox thought with a nod as he continued watching the man. The ease with which he took out the brothers was insane. _'The two were chunnin. When working together they ranked jounin easily, since they worked in tandem perfectly. Anyone who could take them on with no problem was on Zabuza's level….or higher.'_ Because of the facemask, Fox couldn't even tell what the man looked like, so there went IDing the man from the bingo book. The jounin's forehead protector was also pulled down over one eye.

'_Zabuza will want to know who this man is.'_ He could feel the ninja looking for something and decided that it was time to leave. Fox tensed and pulled further back into the surrounding forest growth as the jounin's visible eye settled on the growth where he hid.

'_I don't think Zabuza is going to like this._' He thought blurring from existence as he ran back the way he came.

* * *

Zabuza waited in a clearing lounging against a tree seemingly content. _'Fox is late. He'd better have a good reason.'_ Moments later a shadow jumped from the trees and revealed itself to be the boy from earlier. Fox took a knee and prepared to deliver his report on the target's progress. And a few other…..unpleasant developments that he discovered. Zabuza's relaxed stance shifted and he was suddenly all business.

"So what did you learn?" he asked crossing his arms, giving his subordinate leave to deliver his report. Fox's response was immediate.

"Two genin and a Jounin, a very good Jounin. We weren't the only ones hired by Gatou either it seems. The demon brothers were hired as well and were just dispatched, easily by the jounin and his students." Fox replied without looking up. Zabuza smirked and chuckled something that was odd for him to do.

'_Why is he laughing?'_ Fox wondered without moving. He knew better than to do that. The kiri-nin could tell his two underlings were slightly confused and since he was in a relatively good mood, he'd explain it to him.

"I expected that lying bastard to do something along those lines. What is the jounin's name?" he asked wanting to know the identity of a possible challenge, more importantly whether or not it was someone worth money on the black market. Fox hesitated in his answer slightly knowing it would…irritate Zabuza. The large man noticed the pause as well.

"I don't know sir. I couldn't get close enough without getting caught." He said wincing as he waited for the disapproval. Fox didn't have to look up to know that Zabuza was irritated. The clearing was silent for a moment.

"Haku." The ex mist-nin called suddenly. There was a small whirlwind of leaves then and a masked ninja appeared kneeling next to Fox.

"You called Zabuza-sama." They asked without glancing either way.

"Go with the back up plan should all else fail. Don't show yourself unless absolutely necessary." Zabuza ordered lifting his sword to his back. The masked one nodded and disappeared like they had arrived.

"Let's go. We'll get them on the other side of the water." Zabuza said going into the trees.

The cloaked ninja then followed after him.

* * *

There you have the first chapter I've written. Please no flames they aren't appreciated. I hope you enjoyed the story I will update in a few days. A week at the latest while I'm on holiday. Thanks to my betas. Peace.


	2. Chapter 2 Meeting Again

Notes: Last time I shall say this for the story. Obviously, I don't own Naruto.

Kudos to XxSinfulSammixX for the first review and 108 hits in the first 24 hours of posting. Many thanks as well to Crypton89 for the second review I've gotten. Also, this chapter is being posted early due to all the support I've been given. This won't always be the case since when classes resume I'll be a bit to busy to post more than once a week. The holidays give me quite a bit more time.

Oh….about my earlier note in the last chapter, its not that I don't like yaoi….I'm just no good at writing it. I quite enjoy yaoi if there's a good plot to the story. So sorry if anyone was offended.

Please enjoy the story.

…………………………………….. point of view change

"Blah" talking

'_Blah'_ thoughts

_Blah_ dreams, memories, ect.

Well here you go! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Meeting Again

Fox peered through the trees looking at the group. The jounin was impressive. He had almost found Fox twice and there was no luck involved. He had just barely avoided a kunai launched by the man. The squirrel wasn't happy with him either. '_We'll have to be careful with him. He isn't your average jounin, this one is good.'_ He thought knowing Zabuza had watched the whole thing with Haku. He could tell the older boy was amused with his antics. Fox seemed to have a natural talent for tricks and traps just like his namesake.

He shifted his gaze passed the old man and the girl with freakish pink hair to the boy. There was something about the raven-haired boy that nagged at the back of his memory, something that wanted to be remembered that teased him just out of reach. He shook his head to clear it,

'_Now is not the time to be distracted.'_ Fox thought sensing around the area. Haku was observing from a greater distance as well and would be back up incase something went horribly wrong and both he and Zabuza were about to be defeated.

'_Not that it will.'_ Fox thought to himself. This was simply a routine assignment. They had done this so often it was easy now. Zabuza ran him in this scenario during training so many times he could do it without sight, which considering the man's specialty was a very good thing. It was one of the few things Fox had on Haku and he was proud of it. He was closer to gaining the blind fighting skill than Haku and it would most likely stay that way since he was nearly done learning the hidden mist jutsu.

He could smell the moisture in the air and watched as a mist began to thicken out of nowhere. _'Zabuza's signal.'_ He shifted into position careful to keep his presence hidden. '_Just follow the plan.'_.

* * *

Kakashi sensed something in the mist then and wasn't sure but he thought that Sasuke might sense it too the way the boy kept glancing into the trees. _'This mist isn't natural. Something is wrong.' _Heheard the cutting of air, recognizing the sound for what it was. Metal had a distinct sound that you only recognized after years of having it thrown at you.

"Everyone down." He said as he dove pulling Sasuke to the ground. Sakura pulled Tazuna to the ground with her. A huge sword cut through the air and embedded itself into a large tree. Splinters of wood rained down on the group showing the one eyed man the strength behind the nearly fatal attack.

'_That was a close one. Now who threw that?' _the jounin wondered glancing about looking for the owner of said sword. A voice then rang out from the trees.

"And I was so hoping that would have gotten them, oh well it looks like I can have some fun after all." Kakashi looked up and saw a very muscular ninja standing on the tree branch not wearing a shirt and a dark pair of pants. Bandages hid his face but the slashed hietai from Mist stood out like a sore thumb. Kakashi instantly recognized who this missing ninja was as he looked up. He stood up and Zabuza's eyes widened a little in recognition as well. Kakashi then noticed another smaller figure slightly behind Zabuza off to one side completely cloaked in black, almost as if he was a shadow.

'_Who is that?'_ the jounin wondered staring at the smaller figure behind the jounin. They were the size of a child, like his two students. He couldn't tell if they were male or female due to the large cloak covering them. _'Reports never said he had a partner, or student.' _He mused to himself.

Fox got his first good look at the ninja up close. The jounin only had one visible eye and a thick stalk of silvery grey hair. He could feel an aura of power coming off this man similar to the one that Zabuza and Haku possessed. _'This man is dangerous.'_ He noted narrowing his eyes. Something started waking up in his mind then, something that was almost painful as a sharp pain jolted quickly behind his eyes before fading.

'_Why does he look familiar?'_ He thought but forced it away. _'Must have seen his picture in the bingo book once.'_ It seemed to be reasonable enough as his mind ignored the familiar ness. Zabuza on the other hand knew this man and what he was capable of.

'_Kakashi, this is more than I bargained for. Still his head is worth quite a bit on the black market, maybe this is my lucky day.'_ Zabuza thought and turned his head slightly to address his subordinate. His sharp eyes didn't miss the small wince the boy had for a slight moment. _'That's interesting.'_ after everything was over he'd talk to Fox about it.

"Fox, a change in plans, you handle the genin and the old man. Leave Kakashi to me." He said quietly as he pried his sword from the tree. After everything was over he'd talk to Fox about the odd wince he'd had.

Fox shook his attention from Kakashi then and glanced at his new opponents.

'_The boy looks like he might be a problem. I'm not so sure about the girl. She looks weak, but that may not be the case. She does seem like the genjutsu type. That could prove bad in my favor since it's my weakest point.'_ His attention shifted once again to the boy. Fox could not shake the feeling that he knew this boy too.

'_Must be imagining things.' _

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura stared up at the cloaked form they would be fighting. _'This guy could be trouble.'_ Sasuke thought watching the strange ninja in front of him. He couldn't tell anything about this ninja due to the cloak hiding their features. They were short it seemed, possibly shorter than Sakura. Judging by the name Fox, both assumed it was a boy.

'_This guy is scary.' _Thought Sakura watching this ninja closely. _'He's so small, he can't be more than our age.'_ She realized in shock. _'Cha! Sasuke will take him out no problem at all!'_ her inner cheered at the thought of Sasuke kicking this guy's ass.

* * *

Nodding silently Fox acknowledged Zabuza's command. He dove from the tree to meet them on the ground. Once there, they watched the mysterious figure unsheathed a katana from under his cloak. It's case was black and looked for the most part fairly old. A yellow tie bound it to a belt holding up his black pants. The sword may have looked old but the blade was fine. Granted it too looked worn but Sasuke was pretty sure that it could still do some damage. Fox started running towards them ready to strike.

'_So he uses a sword, this isn't good for us. Judging from the blade he uses that sword frequently.'_ Sasuke thought dodging the sword strike as he and Sakura split up. Tazuna hid behind a tree while the young ninja battled.

'_I need to hide. This is bad; those ninja are going to kill those kids.'_ The bridge builder thought fearing for the safety of his guards.

Sasuke brought up his kunai to block the sword as the fighter swung towards his head. _'This guy is annoying.'_ He thought as the two weapons clanged together. The two separated and Sasuke slid backwards. He could feel the adrenalin flowing in his veins. There was an urge to smirk that he quickly pushed down. For the first time in a long time, he was getting excited.

* * *

Kakashi stood in the mist waiting patiently for the time to strike his enemy. He didn't even notice the large figure of the missing kiri-nin materialize behind him. Faster than it should have been possible Zabuza's massive sword clove downward splitting the gray-haired jounin in half, only to turn into water before Zabuza's eyes. Spinning to look behind himself Zabuza was too late to do anything as Hatake's kunai pierced where his kidneys would have been from the front. Kakashi was not so easily fooled, and thus not surprised when the Zabuza before him burst into water as well. They were both jounin, simple tricks like that would not work on them………at least more than once.

This time the real kiri-nin attacked. He jumped from the treetops with blinding speed and tried to split the leaf-nin in two. Kakashi rolled away from the attack much to Zabuza's displeasure. '_Well Kakashi most certainly lives up to part of his reputation.'_ Zabuza thought.

The two quickly became entangled in a fight of sword strokes and blocks. Kakashi grunted and was pushed backwards slightly as he blocked an overhead strike with his small kunai before jumping back to put space between himself and his opponent. Every stroke he blocked had the power to rip him in two.

'_It could be bad if one of those sword attacks connects.'_ Kakashi thought. He glanced over to see his students double-teaming the sword using youth. Before he could do anything to help them, Zabuza was on the move again. Kakashi knew it would be fatal to not focus on the task at hand and shifted his attention to the swordsman in front of him. _'Looks like their on their own for the moment.'_

* * *

Sasuke dodged the ninja's downward strike and went into a round house kick. The ninja jumped to avoid both it and Sakura's punch that she had aimed at his back. He cursed and rolled out of the way to avoid getting hit by his teammate. She tripped and fell face first to the ground due to her momentum.

"Sakura you go protect the bridge builder. Leave this guy to me." He said jumping up to pursue the ninja after nearly avoiding the collision with his teammate. _'Sakura is just getting in my way.'_ He thought slamming into the ninja's waist and knocking them into a tree. The other ninja using his free hand punched Sasuke in the stomach forcing him away. He then jumped back from the Uchiha and crouched facing him, only to realize he was looking at a clone. In an instant Fox brought up his sword to block the other boy's kunai. The two were locked in a grappling match now.

Fox grit his teeth and pushed back hard grunting in frustration as sweat rolled down his forehead. _'Damn this guy is fast. My sword isn't going to be enough for this fight, looks like I'll have to pick it up a notch.'_ With that Fox slipped loose and rolled backwards hitting the ground effectively throwing Sasuke off balance. He was up and on his feet was the black haired teen regained his balance.

'_What now?'_ Sasuke wondered watching the boy stand up. The cloak was thrown back behind him as though to get it out of the way.

'_That's better. It was getting hot under there.'_ Fox thought not taking his eyes off his opponent. Without the cloak covering his body, you could indeed tell this was not a girl. The boy's muscular body beneath a pair of loose black pants and white long-sleeved shirt was no longer concealed. Sasuke still couldn't see his face as the hood remained firmly in place. Fox ran at Sasuke faster.

'_Looks like the baka wants to play rough.'_ Sasuke thought smirking, as he too charged at the enemy.

* * *

Kakashi worried about his students. _'This will be their first real battle on their own. There's something about that kid.'_ He thought letting his mind get off track. His opponent's massive sword sliced through the tree Kakashi had just been standing in front of. He reached up and lifted his forehead protector revealing a blood red eye with three tomoe.

'_I need to end this quickly.'_ He thought darting at Zabuza from behind the nearest tree. Obviously, the Kiri-nin wasn't expecting him to use his secret weapon. Kakashi nimbly ducked under the horizontal sword strike and stabbed Zabuza in the stomach only for the man to be surrounded by a cloud of smoke before becoming a log. Kakashi was already moving in on his next location.

* * *

For some reason as the fighting continued with the cloaked ninja Sasuke began to know what the ninja was going to do before they did it. _'What's with this guy? His style is so familiar.'_ Sasuke wondered.

In only a few more moves Sasuke remembered a class demonstration at the academy. Suddenly it clicked. _'He's using a type of Leaf Taijutsu! How does he know it?!'_ Fox wondered the exact same thing as the two traded attacks with blades. The two could read each other almost perfectly.

'_Who is this guy? And how does he know my tai-jutsu style?'_ He thought in frustration. He was getting nowhere with this guy and time was of the essence on these missions. If things continued as they were they would be forced to abort the mission and try again in a few days when their element of surprise would be gone.

Finally, Fox saw the opening he had been looking for as Sasuke blocked one of the high swipes of his sword and putting everything he had in it, landed a roundhouse kick onto Sasuke's chest. The blow hit the Uchiha square in the chest and sent him flying back. There was a loud smack as the boy's back connected with the tree. His body crumpled to the ground and he didn't get up. Fox took a moment to catch his breath. The pink haired girl looked in shock from her guard post.

* * *

Sakura simply stared at Sasuke's prone form laying by the tree. She could still see his breathing by the rise and fall of his chest. The kunoichi could not grasp the fact that her hero had fallen. She had memorized all the shinobi principles of conduct. One of the most important was to never let your emotions get the better of you. Right now, it was the farthest thing from her mind.

'_NO! Sasuke can't be beaten. It's not possible he just has to be ok.'_ Sakura thought in disbelief, while shaking her head. Her ear-piercing scream echoed through the clearing.

"SASUKE!!!"

Seeing there was no response from her idol she was beyond rational thought in her rage. Her eyes took on a murderous glint as she drew her kunai from it's holder on her thigh.

'_You will pay for hurting Sasuke-kun!'_ With that thought, she launched herself at the mysterious ninja screaming in rage, fully intending to kill the boy.

* * *

Kakashi and Zabuza both heard the girl scream but their reactions were a little different. _'Looks like Fox took out the boy.'_ Zabuza thought with a smirk of confidence on his face. The girl would fall shortly as anyone could tell that the boy was far superior to the girl with only a glance. He flinched taking a hit to the shoulder when his concentration slipped away from the fight.

'_Damnit! I can't let my mind wander. Who knew that Kakashi would be such a difficult opponent? Haku you had better be paying attention.'_ The swordsman thought cleaving another tree in half while striking at Kakashi. He had not anticipated having this much trouble facing the legendary Sharingan

Kakashi was worried. This fight was lasting too long and it seemed that the boy that Zabuza had with him was proving too much for his students. His eyes widened as he noticed the huge sword bearing down on him through the mist. The jounin leapt clear of the attack and landed kneeling some five feet away.

'_I hope Sasuke is alright.'_ With that in his mind the sharingan wielder began going through the hand signs to perform another jutsu.

"Water style: Water Dragon Jutsu."

* * *

"SASUKE!!!" Her vocals made Fox cringe. He almost dropped his sword to cover his ears as a sharp pain stabbed at his mind like before, but her words triggered something deep in his memories…..

_A blonde haired child and a black haired child both lay back in the grass laughing hard and watching the clouds through the trees. They seemed to be somewhere around six or seven years old. The raven haired child turned to face the blonde and smiled warmly at him. The blonde smiled back and the two continued to watch the clouds._

The girl's raged scream brought him back to reality as he snapped out of whatever that was. Fox noticed her charge attack at the last minute and on reflex he side stepped her and avoided the weak kunai strike aimed to injure him and maybe kill. Faster than the girl could follow in her anger, Fox slammed his fist into her stomach hard. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped in pain bent over his fist. The result knocked the air from her lungs, stunning her completely.

'_Damn that was close. I'm losing it!'_ Fox berated himself for his lack of focus. He dropped her and knew that she wasn't getting up anytime soon. _'I won't kill you since you may have helped me. I can do that for you at least.'_ He mused looking down at her. He then turned his attention to the bridge builder.

'_Two down, one to go….' _He thought advancing on the old man.

* * *

To Tazuna's horror, his last defense was stripped from him as the cloaked boy turned towards him. The old man was paralyzed with fear. He could see the ninja's ice blue eyes from under the hood of his cloak. He stepped back but ran into the tree_. _

'_NO! There's nowhere to run.' _The old man realized panicking.

Fox was trying to prepare himself for what he was about to do. This would be his first kill. It was his first field assignment, his chance to prove he was ready to work with Zabuza and help their small group survive. Although, however he rationalized it, it was no easier performing his duty. He knew that as a shinobi, he would be required to kill and so he had to do this.

'_It's just like the practice targets in the room…except he's alive.'_ His eyes met those of the old man's. They were filled with nothing but fear and sadness. Fox brought up his sword and prepared to make the final strike, but he just couldn't do it.

'_I'm sorry Inari, forgive me.'_ Tazuna thought resigning himself to death as he looked up into the blue icy orbs belonging to his killer. He would at least look his death in the face and not die a coward. Seconds seemed to stretch on into an eternity, as if time had stopped for this one moment.

Fox's hands trembled as he held the blade up. He worked hard to keep his face a mask of apathy. Nothing had ever felt so wrong to him before, not the stealing, the lying, or cheating. His sword felt as though it weighed that of his master's.

'_I don't want to kill him. This man hasn't done anything wrong. But…' _Fox heard Zabuza hiss in pain then.

* * *

'_What's wrong with that kid? Why isn't he finishing the old man yet?'_ Zabuza wondered when he heard no sounds of pleading, or screams of fright. Turning around he saw the boy hesitating.

"What are you waiting for Fox finish the job!" Zabuza yelled fending off Kakashi's attack. The boy's hesitation had cost him ground in the battle as Zabuza realized his pause had given his opponent a chance to start a jutsu. The gray haired jounin finished his hand signs a moment after Zabuza had this realization.

"Water style: Water Vortex Jutsu." Kakashi said calmly causing a massive, spiraling tower of water to slam into Zabuza sending him crashing back through multiple trees and flooding that half of the clearing temporarily.

'_I hope Sasuke and Sakura are alright.'_ The jounin thought as he followed after the massive wave he hit Zabuza with. No matter what he needed to finish off Zabuza first. The child was not a threat, as apparently they'd never killed in cold blood. As long as Tazuna didn't fight back the kid wouldn't complete the act before Kakashi or one of his students stopped him. Nevertheless, as he didn't know for sure he could only take a leap of faith and hope he was right.

* * *

Sasuke came to with his head pounding. _'Why am I still alive? I thought he would have killed me._' Sitting up he noted that Kakashi was still busy with the head ninja. Turning his gaze quickly to the left he saw Sakura unconscious on the ground and the enemy-nin staring down Tazuna ready to strike. He couldn't see the slight shaking of the blade or the tiny hint of doubt in the boy's features as they closed their eyes in remorse. Before Sasuke could think straight he was up and moving.

'_Please don't let me be too late.'_ He franticly thought as he pulled out his kunai and swung for the enemy's head.

* * *

Zabuza's yelling shook Fox out of his thoughts. Fox shook his head and prepared himself to do the deed. He lifted the sword higher and in the moonlight, there was a silver gleam of light that ran down the length of the blade. Tazuna's eyes widened then, as he realized that the person before him did not want this to happen. The boy obviously couldn't disobey his orders though, and had no choice. That small fact allowed the builder to not hate the boy. Fox wasn't watching the old man as he steeled all of his resolve. Closing his eyes, he prayed.

'_Forgive me.'_ Deep in his heart, he secretly wished he didn't have to do this. _'Please stop this.' _

At that instant his eyes widened as he sensed something coming from behind him, and coming fast. He jumped back out of the way realizing it was an attack from a kunai, but he was too slow to get away unscathed. The kunai ripped through the hood of his cloak and left him completely exposed. A thin line on blood appeared on his cheek indicating that the kunai had cut him. His thick blonde locks fell free around his face to the point where his hair was tied back at the base of his skull.

'_Shit that was too close!'_ he thought taking a deep breath to calm himself. Fox then turned around quickly to counter attack. His eyes met those of Sasuke but neither's reaction was what was expected.

Sasuke's eyes took in the blonde hair and blue eyes that this stranger possessed. Only one person had ever had those features. In the faint moonlight he thought he saw whisker like scars on the boy's cheeks. It was like seeing a memory.

'_How?...It's not…it's not possible!...They told me he was dead!'_ Sasuke thought staring and shock. The kunai he gripped in his hand slid from his fingers and fell to the ground with a loud metallic clatter.

Hate, rage, murder, fear were the normal responses. Fox wasn't expecting to see shock and disbelief on his opponents face. In fact, it was the last thing he was expecting, but why was that. His mind began to race as he kept seeing Sasuke and himself together. As the boy's kunai slid from his fingers Fox's guard rose as he was thrown even more off balance.

"Na….Naruto?" he heard the raven-haired boy ask.


	3. Chapter 3 Do I know You

Reader Response

Thanks for the reviews again guys. And I have two favorites! Yay!!!!! Anyways I've gotten a few questions about why Naruto hesitated so much. The boy is 12 and still retains his kind heart. He can't bring himself to kill an innocent old man. Plus he's only been with the man around 2 years. Most of that time would be spent training him and running from hunter-nins. Obviously Naruto/Fox isn't a match for any of the ones they'd have encountered so he wouldn't have killed them.

Please enjoy and please review. I like to know people enjoy the story and it makes me feel good. Just no flames….those aren't helpful and if you don't like the story…don't read it. I've seen several writers leave the site because of people sending unnecessary flames.

Chapter 3: Do I Know You?

Fox's sapphire orbs widened and he stepped back confused and wary. Sasuke saw the confused look on the blond's face but there was no mistaking who this was. He knew those blue eyes and whisker marks anywhere. Everyone had told him it was foolish to believe that Naruto was still alive but he had refused to admit it. He just knew that the blond goofball was alive, he could feel it. After two years, he had finally found his best friend, but he couldn't believe it. _'How is this possible?' _

The blond stared at the boy blankly, the name this enemy had called him, ringing in his mind like a bell. Something stirred deep inside him at the sound of it but Fox couldn't name what the feeling was. _'Na…ru…to….That name it…'_

The blond shook his head to clear it. Now was not the time to deal with this. Zabuza's pained yell instantly caused Fox to look over at the two jounin. He knew he had a duty to do. _'I have to get Zabuza out of here.'_ He realized. They weren't able to continue and he would be useless once Haku stepped in. _'Now to get him out of the way.'_ He thought as his gaze settled on the genin in front of him.

Sasuke watched as the look in Naruto's eyes went from confused to resolved as he charged ramming his shoulder into Sasuke. His katana's butt slammed into the raven's stomach. The Uchiha fell to the side gasping for air from the stunning blow. Fox then ran towards the jounin battle as fast as he could move. Kakashi was moving in for the kill with a kunai in hand.

'_I'll have to teleport if I'm going to make it in time.'_ He thought forming the seal of the ram and he teleported ahead in a swirl of wind.

* * *

Zabuza was pined against the tree breathing heavily as Kakashi took out his kunai.

"Can that eye of your's see the future?" Zabuza asked in a raspy voice. _'Damn it, where's Fox and Haku?'_

"Yes, this is the last battle you will ever fight. You die now Zabuza!" Kakashi yelled running at the mist-nin. Just as Kakashi was about to land the finishing blow Fox appeared in front of him and knocked the kunai away with his sword. In that moment, Kakashi paused. The jounin looked like he'd seen a ghost.

'_Naruto! But that's not possible!'_ the ninja thought as he got a glimpse of the boy in front of him. _'But the hair and the eyes….'_

'_Are my looks really that surprising?'_ Fox thought as he landed in a crouch. Using the element of surprise, he kicked the surprised Kakashi in the waist sending him backwards away from Zabuza's prone form. The jounin skid backwards from the two about three feet before coming to a stop. Moving quickly Fox draped the much larger man's arm over his shoulders, and performed a one handed seal, disappearing in a swirl of mist. Sasuke could only stare after him in disbelief.

'_Naruto is alive.'_ He thought as he pulled himself up recovering and stared at the spot where the person he considered a brother had just stood. Sakura groaned as she came to.

'_What happened?'_ She thought and then remembered the previous events. _'Where is he?'_ She wondered looking around for the cloaked ninja and saw Kakashi stager and go down in a heap. _'NO!'_

'_I used too much chakra with the Sharingan.'_ the jounin thought passing out and landing with a thump on the hard forest floor.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke heard Sakura scream and turned to see his perverted teacher collapsed on the ground unconscious.

'_Not good!'_ he thought running over to where his teacher was.

* * *

The duo materialized inside Gatou's base moments later. Fox was sweating heavily from the effort it had taken transporting them and he was shaking from the strain it had put on his chakra levels. Teleporting was ok for short distances but the farther you went the more dangerous it became. Even with his impressive levels it was a drain. Fox was about ready to collapse under Zabuza's weight. Haku rushed over to take Zabuza's body from his teammate.

'_I should have stepped in.'_ Haku thought taking their injured master. _'But I had my orders.'_ Haku had watched the whole thing so to collect information for later use against Konoha ninja. He had learned much from watching his master fight the copy ninja.

Once Zabuza was no longer supported by Fox, he backhanded the blond across the face. Fox's head snapped around from the backhand and the blonde hit the ground from the force of Zabuza's strike with a crash, a red mark appearing where he was hit. Fox's hand went up to the hit and he looked back at his master confused. The boy could taste blood on his lips. He had been expecting the punishment for not completing orders but it felt like Zabuza had nearly dislocated his jaw with that hit. The missing-nin had hit him with the very last ounce of his strength.

"I gave you an order, why didn't you kill the old man?" Zabuza said as Haku supported him. Fox knelt low on the floor and wiped the blood from his face. His gaze shifted to the ground knowing that if Zabuza was at his full strength and not badly wounded his answer would earn him worse than a hit to the face. Fox squeezed his eyes shut and braced for the next hit.

"I couldn't kill an innocent man." He replied quietly keeping his head pressed to the floor in submission.

Zabuza growled in rage at his comment. _'The boy is still too soft.'_

"Get it through your head, your job is to kill the target no questions asked." Zabuza yelled. Fox didn't move an inch for fear of bringing Zabuza's wrath upon himself. After a moment, the other two could see he was done for the time being. Haku started to take him into the room to begin taking care of him. Fox merely stood followed after them, ready to tend to his own injuries. Injured or not he was sure Zabuza would give him extra work to do for his lack of discipline.

Later when Zabuza was asleep Haku figured he would tend to Fox's wounds as well. Haku found him in the living area of the suite they were currently staying in. Fox was in his customary place on the couch. He had that far away look in his eyes again with his hair hanging down over them. Haku sighed and sat down next to him.

"Let me see that cut, Fox." He said quietly. Fox turned his face towards him and Haku was not shocked to see that the small cut on Fox's cheek from where the male genin had torn away the hood was already healed. All that was left was a faint red line that would be gone by morning. The brunet held in his chuckle. He should have known the boy would heal just fine, if not magically over night. He almost always did.

"I'm fine Haku" Fox replied smiling, "You worry too much." The two continued sitting in silence. "….How's Zabuza?" He asked after a moment losing his smile as soon as it came.

"He needs a lot of rest after that battle. It could be another week and a half before he is completely recovered." Haku said putting away the medical supplies. They were precious commodities and could not be wasted. Haku decided to ask the question that was bothering him.

"Fox why didn't you kill your target?" he asked after a moment while wrapping the clean bandages back around the roll. Fox sighed and put his head between his knees groaning. _'I knew this was coming…'_

"I don't know. I just couldn't do it." He mumbled. "Haku the man was helpless. He hadn't done anything wrong. How can you kill someone like that?" He said looking up at his friend and at times adopted big brother. Haku sighed and looked Fox in the eye.

"Fox, you know that we as shinobi are no more than tools. As such we are to complete our objectives no matter what they are you know that. It's not easy….but its what we have to do." Haku said standing up and moving towards the bedroom. "Get some sleep Fox you'll have an assignment in the morning."

"Alright Haku, I will." Fox said stretching out over the sofa that he sat on. _'Oh joy another scouting mission.'_

"Good night." The older boy said going into the other room.

"Same to you Haku." He said rolling over to face the back of the couch. Haku smiled sadly at the younger's back before he closed the door to Zabuza's room. It would be awhile until he could sleep just yet.

* * *

Fox sat high up in a tree watching the enemy two days later. Kakashi was faring much better than Zabuza was, so Fox found out from his observations. He hid within the foliage and watched the genin perform the tree climbing exercise. It was so…..basic. Haku had taught him with in the first few weeks of his training. _'Wouldn't they have learned that in the academy?'_

For some reason he couldn't explain he felt drawn to them, particularly the one called Sasuke. _'What is it about them that makes me feel like this?'_ He had spent more time than he should have observing them. Right now he was supposed to be scouting the bridge and any other vantage points that could be used as an attack site. He knew that it was especially dangerous with the copy ninja being one of the targets, injured or not. But for some reason he couldn't keep away. Fox just watched as the girl slipped from a higher branch and made a quick descent. The jounin only looked up from his porn lazily.

"Good now try the exercise again Sakura, just use less chakra this time." Kakashi told his student, but he wasn't paying attention to her actions. There was something off. He let his senses scan the area and found what or who he was looking for. Sure enough that boy from earlier was in the trees watching them again. His chakra was only barely detectable. In his book it was quite a feat.

'_He's back again. Let's find out why he's here.'_

"I know you're there, so show yourself." Fox heard Kakashi say without even turning around or looking up from his book. Sasuke and Sakura both slipped into defensive positions, startled that a spy had been watching them without their sensing them.

'_Kuzo, not good.'_ Fox thought to himself tensing up. This was not part of the plan. He knew he stood no chance against a jounin and two genin alone. Hell the two genin had given him a little trouble. Against them he could win, but not without injury. '_I can't take on a jounin alone.' _Not even when the jounin was seriously weakened, this was the copy ninja we're talking about. Zabuza still kicked his ass in sparing without breaking a sweat. Therefore, with the calm of knowing he could possibly escape from the jounin and genin Fox jumped down from his tree that he was hidden in.

'_Damn wish I had fixed my hood.'_ He thought when he felt the urge to pull the currently torn and useless hood up to cover his face. Sasuke's posture relaxed which drew Fox's eyes to him. Sasuke was remarkably calm while leaning cross armed against the tree trunk he'd slashed up during training. '_Now why did he do that?'_

'_Naruto is that really you?'_ Sasuke wondered seeing the blond again. In the sunlight he could see the differences in the two. This blond was paler than Naruto was but judging by the cloak and that he was with a ninja from Kiri that could explain it. In his eyes was a hardness and constant confusion that shouldn't have been there.

Sasuke was also being examined by Fox. The shadow could see the other had that same look in his eyes as before. He could see that Kakashi also held the same look of recognition that Sasuke had days earlier. The one eyed man shifted his weight and turned to face the blond with his crutch. It was deceptive, meant to fool him into a false sense of safety Fox figured.

"You've been watching us since yesterday, what do you want?" Kakashi asked calmly, as if they were discussing the weather. This shocked the genin.

'_He's been watching us all this time!'_ Sakura thought almost panicking. She looked towards Sasuke to see that as usual he didn't have any type of expression on his face.

'_He knew that I was there the whole time!'_ The blond continued to eye the group. Sasuke was still remarkably calm. Sakura on the other hand looked like she was going to piss herself. '_Might as well get some answers.'_ This could be his one chance to figure out why he was reacting to seeing them. Maybe they could help. What could it hurt to ask?

"Do I know you?" Fox asked with all seriousness in his face and voice. Kakashi couldn't believe what he had heard.

'_Well that was the last thing I expected him to ask.'_ Kakashi mused looking at the boy. Sasuke simply didn't care for restraint it seemed.

"What are you talking about, of course you know us dope. I'm your best friend." Sasuke said from his spot by the tree. He was confused by this statement from the blond.

'_How could he forget us? He has to be joking.' _

"Naruto tell me what happened to you two years ago." Kakashi said hobbling closer to the boy. Kakashi noticed the boy's eyes narrow as he moved closer. Fox moved his hand closer to his sword and Kakashi stopped. _'He may be injured but I still can't let him get near me.' _Fox thought.

"Answer my question." He said actually griping the hilt of his blade.

Sasuke stared in disbelief. _'What's wrong with him?' _

"We don't know you." Sakura said coldly as she drew her kunai. Kakashi glared as her then and she stepped back under his killer intent. "Sasuke…." she started only to be cut off.

"Shut up Sakura." He stated coldly while fixing a frightening glare on the kunoichi. The pink haired girl slid to the ground in shock under the two others glares. Sakura just stared at the Uchiha in shock, unable to comprehend that her crush had just threatened her. Sasuke returned his gaze to the blond who stared at the group with slight confusion.

"Naruto…" he started only to be cut off by the blond's reaction.

"My name is Fox!" he yelled at the two others in the clearing. His name wasn't Naruto….it was Fox. Kakashi could sense the confusion and saw the boy was close to panicking. The boy certainly looked like the hyper blond. The hair and eyes were nearly identical, and the whisker marks were a dead give away. But the boy's attitude an mannerisms were all wrong. Naruto wasn't sneaky, or ruthless. While the child wasn't a perfect match, Kakashi was beginning to think this really was him. After all time with ruthless killers would change a person.

'_I'd better be careful whether it's him or not he is close to panicking. That's the last thing we need to happen. There's no telling what he might do.' _The jounin thought while scanning for the boy's accomplices. He didn't want to deal with a surprise attack in his injured state. Not sensing anyone, he decided to milk the boy for information. With enough of it he might be able to piece together if this really was boy they'd been missing for two years.

"Are you sure?" he asked Fox. The boy was taken back by this question, Kakashi could see it in his eyes as his sapphire orbs widened in surprise. The familiar feeling Fox had was growing stronger the more they talked but he still didn't remember anything that wasn't already there. This was getting him nowhere except more confused and distracted, two things that he couldn't afford. He mentally slapped himself out of his thoughts.

"It…I'm not sure." He said relaxing his stance just barely.

"So you don't know?" Kakashi said taking a step forward and realized his mistake as Fox instinctively tensed and shifted back into his stance. The boy stepped back from him in fear. Fox hid his nervousness by tightening his grip on the blade. There was a small pain building behind his eyes the more they spoke. Deep inside he knew in the past he had known them somehow. The memories he desperately wanted to remember itched just out of his reach frustrating him to no end.

'_Damn it! Why can't I remember!'_ he mentally screamed while resisting the urge to grab his head to stop the pain and confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked confused. He didn't understand. This was Naruto his best friend and brother. "Why are you asking if you know us?" _'Did Naruto forget everything?'_

His blue eyes softened "I don't remember anything before the last two years." He seemed very angry then and suddenly scared as he whipped his head around looking for something unseen. Before the leaf-nin could do anything the blonde flashed three hand signs. He then disappeared in a swirl of leaves and wind.

"Naruto wait!" Sasuke yelled starting after him. Kakashi grabbed him by the shoulder. Sasuke glared at his teacher who had kept him from going after his brother. The jounin sighed as his single eye bored into the teen's two black.

"Calm down Sasuke, he'll be back." Kakashi said looking after the boy. After a moment Sasuke stopped glaring and once Kakashi released him he walked back towards the house. Seeing that the Uchiha wasn't going to train anymore for the time being he vanished in a poof of smoke to who knows where.

Sakura was fuming inside. Not only had he made Sasuke upset, but they had yelled at her for trying to defend them. _'That little bastard has turned Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei against me.' _She thought as rage clouded her thoughts. _'I know Sasuke-kun loved him like a brother, but Naruto is dead and nothing will bring him back. I'll make sure of it.'_ She thought vowing to get rid of the boy first chance she got. _'Nothing will come between me and Sasuke-kun. I swear it!'_ she thought with fire burning in her eyes.

The blond hid in the trees nearly a kilometer away breathing hard as the adrenalin rush gave out. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what possessed him to respond like that. _'Kuzo! What the hell was I thinking? Why did I tell them that! I'm so stupid, now they know I'm watching them.'_ He looked up and noticed that it was nearly time for him to get back. He didn't want to be out here anymore than necessary right now. It wouldn't take long for the Konoha-nins to find him if they wanted to look. _ 'I have to get out of here and report back.'_

* * *

Fox entered the room and deposited his gear on his bedroll near the door. He then assumed the position for giving his reports. His exhaustion was finally catching up with him after taking a horribly long detour to throw off any would be pursuers. Hatake Kakashi was known for his tracking skills so if wouldn't be unreasonable to think that he'd taught his students or had summons.

"Where were you Fox?" Zabuza demanded from the bed he was sitting on. Haku was dressing one of his wounds. The older boy looked up since he finished his work. He could see the dark rings under the younger's eyes indicating that he hadn't slept much during the last two days.

'_The idiot still doesn't know how to take care of himself.' _Haku mused silently. Fox responded to the acknowledgement by looking up into the man's face.

"I was scouting. No new information to report yet. I took a detour back to be sure no one was following me." He answered. Zabuza merely waved him off with a nod, done with him for the moment. Fox relaxed slightly as he stood went towards his corner to relax for the night. Before he could sit down Gatou and two of his bodyguards burst into the room. Zabuza's eyes narrowed slightly at this unwanted interruption. The short fat man may not have noticed it but Haku and Fox did.

'_Just great.'_ All three thought at the same time.

'_Just when I was going to relax. Damn it you fat bastard!'_ Fox screamed at their employer in his mind as he stood back up from his squat. The blond was tired and his temper was hard to control. Haku occasionally joked that he 'frenzied' when stressed.

"Come back to lick your wounds, I thought you could handle this Zabuza. I'm not paying you to sit around all day, why isn't Tazuna dead yet." Gatou yelled getting close to Zabuza so he could yell in the missing-nin's face. The former Kiri-nin didn't bat an eyelash as the tiny man all but spit in his face. Fox's eyebrow raised slightly at Gatou's guts but then they narrowed.

'_Does he want to be killed? What happened to the fear? I wish that Zabuza would kill the bastard. I've got a bad feeling about him.' _Fox thought wishfully while refraining from glaring at the bastard. Gatou's guards had a smugness in their posture that both he and Haku wanted nothing more than to beat out of them, and their fat boss. Deciding it would be bad if Zabuza killed their employer before he paid them Fox stepped in to control the damage. He man had little tolerance for fools and had been known to kill them with little restraint.

"Things got complicated, and you failed to mention that Kakashi the copy ninja was part of his body guards." Fox said positioning himself next to the bed. He couldn't help but feel protective of the man that helped him. Angry at being denied Zabuza the fat little man rounded on the nearest available target….Fox.

"So what's your excuse brat, a few genin too much trouble for you or was it the old man?" Gatou was enraged that this little brat was standing between him and this failure of a ninja he had hired. _'You little shit, how dare you interfere.'_ He thought taking in Fox's tired stance and the dark circles under his eyes. Even for the oily man it was obvious that this kid was in no shape to fight back.

'_I'll just smack him around.'_ Gatou thought to himself. His hand balled into a fist ready to hit him in the face. Fox was too tired to focus on what the slimy bastard was doing and could careless as he could do no lasting damage.

Haku had noticed that their employer had something going on in his little brain. There was a strange gleam in his eyes. When the man's fist started to move Haku knew that there was only one of two places it would go. His eyes narrowed as his hand snaked out and grabbed Gatou's wrist in his attempt to hit Fox since their master was out of the fat man's reach. The blond's eyes narrowed as Haku nudged him a step back, realizing what the man attempted to do. The two teens could feel their master's displeasure at this turn of events.

"You will not insult Zabuza-sama or Fox." He hissed quietly and applied pressure to the fat man's arm. He needed no approval for this, from Zabuza-sama. They all heard a loud crack and Gatou screamed in pain, his bodyguards gripped their swords. Haku released him and his guards rushed him to a medic but before they were out the door Zabuza stopped them with his voice. Their employer and his guards shivered slightly at the Demon of the Mist's tone.

"Gatou…..Unless you'd like me to do the same you will keep you hands off my subordinates." He hissed causing the fat man to flinch but the man was then rushed from the room to a medic. His groans could be heard down the hallway.

'_Damn pansy.'_ Fox thought.

"You two get ready," Zabuza said grabbing the teens attention. "As soon as I've recovered we're going finish this job." Haku and Fox simply nodded and accepted his orders. Fox decided to get some sleep and walked wearily into the main room of their apartments. Haku sadly watched him go.

'_Sleep well this time, Fox.'_ He thought watching the blonde close the door.


	4. Chapter 4 Midnight Meeting

Chapter 4: Midnight Meeting

_Children's laughter rang throughout the trees of the forest. The sun was bright and illuminated the whole forest, rays filtering through the leaves weaving patterns of light on the forest floor. Flowers of every color bloomed among the trees and giving ample hiding places for tag. A young blond with whiskers ran carelessly from them with young brunet chasing after him. The two laughed and giggled madly in their own little world. Fox ducked around a tree and giggled. He waited catching his breath, expecting to see the boy come around the tree to restart the chase. He playfully peeked out of his hiding place, only to see that Sasuke had disappeared. Slowly, he walked out and looked around confused. _

'_Where did you go?' he wondered as he glanced around. That's when he noticed the changes around him. _

_The forest was no longer the happy place it had been. Now it was dark and dangerous with the shadows shrouding everything. He looked up when everything grew dark to see that there was no sun now, just a thin crescent moon that glowed faintly among the clouds in the sky. The once lively forest was now deathly quiet and it unnerved the boy since he knew instinctively that there was something bad in the surrounding trees. He could feel it watching him, waiting. Fox grew scared as he looked around and realized that he was alone. _

_Terrified, the blond started running deeper into the forest; away from Sasuke and their games, away from the monster in the shadows. No longer was it a simple game but a battle for his life. The trees seemed to reach out and pull at his body to slow him down, while cutting and scraping his arms, legs, and face. He could feel something else in the dark with him, it's bloodlust was almost palpable. His pursuer made barely any sound as what ever it was moved through the trees. There was only the sound of a branch bending or leaves crunching, nothing more. They always stayed just out of the light. It was playing with him, a sick game of cat and mouse, waiting for just the right moment to make the kill. It terrified the child to his core. _

_Fox ran panting heavily, sweat dripping off his body as he searched franticly for his attacker hidden within the shadows of the trees or someplace that he could hide , any kind of sanctuary. Kunai flew from the trees around him and the 10 year old dove to clear the attack. Fox saw gleaming razor sharp edge of the kunai embed into the ground where he had been just seconds ago. He screamed in terror as he crawled in desperation to get away from the dangerous knives. With tears falling from his eyes, he scrambled to his feet and ran forward desperately trying to escape. _

"_Someone please help me!" he screamed terrified of his unseen foe. He could hear them laughing now, taunting him and mocking his frantic attempts to survive. The rough ground tore at his elbows and knees scraping them again and again with each new fall as he tried to escape wave after wave of the deadly knives._

_The chase was endless and no matter how much he called for help no one came. He tripped over something and hit the ground face first and was helpless. Pain burned through his right side, the small boy then screamed in agony. Turning around to look up he saw a figure standing over him. In their hands was a silver blade stained with his blood, as the blade was savagely torn from his body. The child crawled backwards on his elbows as he lacked strength to even stand and run anymore. His attacker was only a mass of shadows yet he could sense the murderous intent behind their attack. Pain exploded in his shoulder then and he screamed as he started falling when the ground opened up and swallowed him. The darkness consumed him._

Fox bolted up from his spot on the floor, his breathing uneven from his dream. The boy's blue orbs were wide in panic and shot around the room looking for his phantom attacker. His blonde hair clung to his neck where it had fallen from its tie. The moonlight drifted in from the window casting a faint glow over the room. Using the faint moon light to get his bearings he scanned the room. There was no sign of danger and he relaxed seeing Haku sleeping on the couch calmly. His hands gripped the blanket as the last fragments of the dream still lingered. Like so many other nights, he had fleeting memories of the dream but nothing that would stay with the coming of morning. He remained as silent as possible to not wake either of his companions, especially Zabuza since the man was fed up with his constant nightmares.

'_Why am I having this dream again? And why was that leaf ninja in it?'_ Fox seemed happy in the dream, at least until it became a nightmare. As he got his breathing under control he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He cursed to himself as he tried to make his hands stop shaking.

'_Kuzo! Why has this shaken me up so bad? I have the same dream every night, so why does it do this to me still?' _He thought watching his hands tremble slightly. His hands grasped his hair tie and methodically worked to get his hair back into a manageable state. It wasn't just the others that were tired of the dreams he was too. Still this one was different. He'd never started in the bright forest before, nor had there been anyone aside from him and the shadow. Sighing he got up knowing sleep was going to elude him for the rest of the night. Grabbing his gear, he quietly moved to the door hoping to leave unnoticed.

…

A soft noise woke Haku from his sleep. After a moment, he knew that Fox was having another nightmare. Knowing he could do nothing to help him, Haku lay there and listened to his friend and brother toss and turn in his sleep groaning softly. His heart reached out for the blond knowing that once again his sleep would tormented by phantoms of his past that he couldn't remember.

'_He's been like this for as long as he's been with us. I wish he could sleep more than a few hours at a time.'_ He thought as he turned his head to watch the boy. As much as he wanted to help, there was nothing he could do. In the dark, he saw Fox bolt up from where he lay. He could hear Fox's labored breathing easily. The pure horror on Fox's face was painful to see. It was some consolation that he wasn't as loud as the first few times it happened, but Haku wished what ever haunted the blond would go away. It made things especially difficult at times when they tried to avoid patrols. Knowing that Fox was going to leave when he got up Haku made his presence known.

"Fox?" he heard Haku ask as soon as his hand touched the doorknob. Fox froze knowing he had been caught. It was almost funny how his partner knew what he was going to do when he was trying not to get caught.

'_Guess I should have known better.'_ He sighed with his hand still resting on the doorknob. The blond knew Haku was watching him with concern in his eyes. It was the same every time he had a nightmare.

'_At least he doesn't ask me to talk about it any more.'_ Fox hated having to explain the terror he felt, remembering the horror after the nightmare was gone. The blond found the only sleep he got that was peaceful was the bliss of pure exhaustion that came when he worked himself to the bone. He responded to the feminine boy's unspoken question without turning around.

"I can't sleep Haku, so I'm going to get to work. Don't worry I'll be fine." Fox said as he went out the door closing it softly.

'_I'm not in the mood to be questioned.' _He thought going down the hallway to the exit. His movements were in a practiced fluid grace that was the product of his silent comings and goings in the last two years. The guards in the hall didn't even notice him as he slipped away into the dark of the night. Haku watched Fox vanish into the trees from the window.

'_Be careful Fox.'_ Haku thought drawing the curtain and lying back down on the couch.

…

The blond sat in a tree just outside the builder's house watching. He hadn't moved for the last hour. Considering who was inside the house he found himself slightly relaxed. Everything was still and no one was awake not even the jounin. His mind was racing tonight as he once again tried to gain some answers from his dreams. His gaze drifted to the window that he knew to be the Jounin's. He knew that these people knew him once but how he wasn't sure.

'_Maybe I should talk to them again, but…NO! Zabuza said to stay away from them and avoid all contact. It was safer when Kakashi was injured because I could get away if necessary but this is suicide. I can't believe I'm even considering going in there.'_ He thought running a hand through his hair as he gazed up at the stars. Fox sighed and hung his head.

'_But I need answers; these dreams are getting more persistent. At this rate I'll get us all killed by alerting a patrol.' _He growled in frustration with himself stopping that train of thought. '_What is wrong with me? I could be finishing the job right now and we could get out of here.'_

But he knew that he couldn't kill the old man. The look the old man had on his face that night replayed itself in his memory then. Fox hated being the cause of the hopelessness and fear in his eyes. He just didn't have the heart to kill someone that never did anything to him. Both Haku and Zabuza had tried to help him, Zabuza more physically than the other. It hadn't worked though. Even in all their random fights with other shinobi and thugs, he'd been unable to kill. Fox looked back up at the moon and stood up on the tree branch. The wind blew gently through his hair and blew back his cape, golden hair waving softly around his face.

'_Zabuza is gonna kill me if he finds out I didn't follow his orders. I can't believe I'm gonna do this.'_ Taking a deep breath he vanished into the darkness.

…

_The two children were running around in Konoha's massive forest playing a mixture of tag and hide and go seek. Naruto jumped from behind a tree and tagged the Uchiha. The blond laughed and the sound rang though the trees as the child leapt away. _

"_Catch me if you can nii-san." He called over his shoulder while grinning madly. Sasuke smirked and took off after Naruto determined to tag the blond. Their game had lasted for hours and each time one tagged the other the game escalated. Sasuke ran into the trees to have fun playing their game. He heard Naruto's laugh coming from the other side of some bushes and he dove through them. 'You never could hide well when you were cocky about getting away.' _

_On the other side Sasuke noticed the forest was wrong. It wasn't even a forest, just a pitch black void with no sound or other life. He looked behind himself only to be completely lost as the forest was completely gone. _

"_Naruto! Where are you!" A younger Sasuke called out running through the darkness. There was no one around and nothing was visible. He caught a glimpse of his friend running far ahead of him. The sight filled him with joy as he sped up._

"_Naruto wait for me!" he said with a small smile on his face. _

_But the blond didn't wait for him, instead he continued to run onward. Sasuke didn't understand as he raced after his brother. Naruto never did this, he would wait for the Uchiha if called after. _

"_Naruto!" he cried running after him. However, no matter how fast he ran he just couldn't catch up with the blonde. It was like Naruto could not hear him as he called out to him repeatedly. The darkness swallowed them both as they kept running._

Sasuke woke from his dream suddenly. He could sense someone else in the room with him. He sat up and grabbed a kunai from the bedside table only to see Naruto sitting in a chair across the room from him. Naruto had changed a lot; his hair was longer and pulled back into a small ponytail at the base of his neck. It still looked like he hadn't ever brushed it. There on his cheeks were the tell-tale whisker marks. The black cloak pooled around the blond hiding most of his clothes from view. Sasuke could see traces of where the hood was ripped. Underneath that was the old white shirt and black threadbare pants. It looked nothing like the little ball of sunshine that was his younger brother. Without the orange he just looked wrong.

'_The bridge builder!'_ he thought realizing that it might be too late as he started to get out of the bed. _'He wouldn't have…'_ Naruto seemed to have sensed his concern.

"Relax everyone is fine. They are all asleep and will stay that way for a little while." Fox said without looking away from the window as he stared out into the night. The blond's mind was obviously somewhere else. As much as Sasuke wanted to see Naruto, he was still cautious. Kakashi's words echoed in Sasuke's mind.

"_That may be Naruto, but he has changed Sasuke." The masked ninja said to his angry student once they had returned to the relative safety of the house. "We don't know what he will and won't do. Above all that makes him dangerous"_

Seeing that Naruto meant no harm Sasuke lowered his weapon as a sign of trust.

"What do you want?" he asked cautiously. Naruto was obviously tired and seemed to radiate confusion. His eyes held a lost look that was haunting in those familiar blue eyes. Fox looked up and locked eyes with Sasuke then. The gaze lasted only moments before he looked back at the moon with his eyes half closed, like he was looking at something only he could see. After several long moments of silence he spoke just as Sasuke was about to lose his patience.

"I see you in my dreams….in a place I don't remember…" he stated hesitantly, with confusion permeating his features. Sasuke stared at the blond not expecting this. Fox continued heedless of what the other teen thought. "I need to know why you are the only thing that I can remember,….even if it is only your face. Maybe then I can find out who I am….or where I'm from." He said tiredly looking back at Sasuke with his piercing blue eyes.

Sasuke sat back down on the bed and ran a hand through his thick black hair. Inwardly he groaned. _'This is worse than I thought. Where do I start and what do I tell him?_' Sasuke sighed before he began. Looking back he found Naruto's eyes piercing him, as though looking into his soul to make the connection. The seriousness was just strange on the face of Konoha's legendary prankster.

"Well….your name is Naruto Uzumaki and you disappeared from Konoha two years ago." He began, not really sure where to start beyond that. The boy in front of him didn't seem to recognize the name as his going by the concentrated look on his face, like he was racking his brain trying to find what he was being told. "We were best friends, more often like brothers, and did everything together at the academy and out of it. We lived together with Kakashi at his house since we didn't have any family." He explained knowing the boy had to wonder why they lived with the masked jounin.

Fox became lost in his thoughts for a moment. _'That doesn't make sense. That can't be right. If what he says is true…'_

"But what happened to me? If I was your best friend why was I left to die?" Fox asked locking eyes with the Uchiha for a moment. Sasuke looked away ashamed of something. Fox was on edge since only someone guilty would hide something. Most shinobi never learned the meaning of guilt, lying was part of the job description.

"We don't know what happened." Sasuke said not wanting to meet Fox's eyes. Taking a deep breath, the Uchiha continued. "Kakashi and some others searched for weeks. There was blood all over the forest, but we never found a body or the causes for the blood. There was no sign you were even alive." He said finally looking up. The other boy seemed to be in pain.

"Naruto have you been ok?" Sasuke asked trying to direct the conversation in a less painful direction. Naruto sighed and leaned his head back against the wall closing his eyes. The building pressure between his eyes died away as fast as it came.

"I guess, I mean things are hard but it's not so bad. Zabuza is harsh but he's kept me alive." He said remembering everything that had happened in the last two years. The blond's face was shadowed by pain as he remembered the more unpleasant of them. Sasuke's sharp eyes caught this instantly.

"Has he hurt you Naruto?" Sasuke asked with a hint of rage in his voice. Naruto returned his gaze to Sasuke then. Fox didn't understand why this boy continued to call him Naruto, but he allowed it, hoping it might trigger something in the back of his mind. Sasuke didn't know what he was asking with his more recent demand though.

"Only for not following orders." He said softly remembering some of his punishments. _'Like right now.'_ he mused to himself and his grip tightened slightly. The jounin had no qualms about hitting him for mistakes. As long as he was suitably recovered by morning, Zabuza wouldn't care. It was that fact alone that kept the former kiri-nin from beating him as much as he sometimes saw fit.

"What is the village like?" Naruto asked wanting to change the subject off of Zabuza, as if talking about him would make appear in the room with them. Sasuke sort of smiled and his voice took of a reminiscing tone as he spoke about the village. Sasuke leaned back against the headboard of the bed, putting his hands behind his head relaxing.

"It's a huge ninja village with a forest surrounding it on all sides with the stone faces behind it. It has all four Hokages on the cliffs. There are these massive gates that take several people to open without the use of chakra. All the buildings are so colorful and have this completely random street layout that all usually lead to the main road. It can hurt the eyes after staring at it for awhile." He explained seeing the image so clearly in his own head. He wanted Naruto to see it as he described the village as if that alone could give the blond his memories back.

"We used to go to Ichiraku's Noodle shop after training for ramen or head up to the stone faces to watch the sun set. You could eat ramen like there was no tomorrow, especially the miso." He finished the last sentence with a slight chuckle. He noticed that the blond had stood from the chair sometime while he was speaking. He had a small grin on his face, and it relieved Sasuke since it made the blond look more like his friend.

"Hey why are you called Fox?" Sasuke asked curious sitting up on the bed, Fox leaned on the wall with his arms folded. The question startled him a bit judging from the small widening of his eyes. "I mean why do you think that's your name?"

"When I first woke up that was the only thing I could remember." He answered slowly. There was a tone of irritation of in his voice showing he didn't want to talk about the topic. Silence reigned for a few moments.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" Fox asked moving to the window. He looked outside as though his questions would be answered out there. "I mean right now I'm the enemy." the boy stated more to himself than to Sasuke, like he was trying to get it through his head. He quickly turned to the bed and drew his sword with a cold gleam in his eyes as he directed it to Sasuke's chest. Sasuke sweated in fear not sure what the blond was up to.

"I could kill you right now and no one would know the difference. It would be easy to finish off all of you and the old man." Fox said in a dark tone. His calloused hand tightened on his sword's hilt.

'_But could I really?_' he thought. Sasuke's reaction wasn't what he expected.

"If you were going to hurt me, any of us, you would have done it already." The teen said looking Fox in eyes the before looking down as though surrendering to whatever the blond would do. "Besides….." he started, "you're my best friend." Sasuke said looking up to meet eyes with Naruto again, but he only saw the curtain waving in the wind.

'_Naruto.'_ Sasuke thought staring after him.

…

He couldn't believe this genin's confidence in him. The fact that Sasuke could stare him down while helpless and not think he would kill the teen confused and scared him. He ran. It was a pathetic and cowardly course of action. Fox had jumped out the window and was racing through the treetops seconds after the words left the boy's mouth. The blond struggled to make them go away. Mid leap from one tree branch to another, he couldn't tune them out any more.

'_You're my best friend.'_ The Uchiha said with his head down and neck exposed to him for an attack. The kunai said in his lap forgotten apparently. The boy's words rang with a sincerity that Fox could not fathom.

So great were the words, that he lost his concentration. What should have been a simple catch and flip maneuver failed. His hand fell just short of the branch and Fox fell the distance to the forest floor. Blue eyes widened as the boy cursed realizing his mistake. Fox rolled with his momentum when he hit the ground to not injure himself further. The impact was sharp and he skid and rolled for several feet before stopping just short of a tree trunk. Grunting as he pushed up to his hands and knees, the boy silently berated himself. _'Get it together! You could have killed yourself.'_

Seeing he didn't have anything wrong with himself, he picked himself up and brushed off the dirt off of his clothes. His eyes remained closed as he leaned back onto the tree that he'd almost hit. If anyone was present they would have seen the anger on his face.

'_Damn, why is this bothering me so much.'_ He thought in anger. Fox slammed his fist into the tree behind him in frustration as he grit his teeth. Talking to the Uchiha was almost like remembering. He knew that Zabuza was right about him being left alone to die in the forest. His injuries should have been fatal, even he knew that with his limited knowledge of medicine. Sasuke also told him that he had disappeared in the forest two years ago, the same time Zabuza had found him. But that's where the stories changed. Sasuke gave him the impression that people liked him, well if not the village at least a few people; and Zabuza gave him the impression that he was hated by the whole populace of where ever he came from. The man had never used the village's name either, so he didn't even know it seemed. Fox let loose the pent up frustration that had been building for days. A frustrated growl tore itself from the blond's throat.

"Who am I suppose to believe!" he shouted to the forest as he slumped back against the tree, wishing for someone to answer him with the truth as he pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head.


	5. Chapter 5 Who's Telling the Truth

Chapter 5: Who's Telling the Truth

Fox woke up with the sun shining in his face. He stayed that way for a few moments unwilling to disturb the peacefulness of his most recent night. _'Guess I fell asleep. At least I didn't have the dreams this time.'_ For once, his reoccurring nightmares didn't hurl him into his waking reality of confusion. He knew he needed to get back to his assignment or the base. He was acting on autopilot as he started get up and get moving. Only then did he notice the kunai just at the edge of his vision.

'_What is that doing there?'_ he thought half asleep.

"Move and I'll kill you." He heard said to him. The voice was female and vaguely familiar to him but he couldn't place it. Looking up he saw it was the pink haired kunoichi from the Konoha team.

'_What was her name….Sakura wasn't it.'_ He could sense the fear and rage coming off her. _'I suppose this is why I shouldn't sleep out in the field by myself. Karma really does suck.'_ He mused still not quiet firing on all cylinders after his hard sleep. It really did suck to wake up with a blade at your neck after what could be the best night's sleep you've had in months.

"What do you want?" he asked tiredly still groggy from his lack of sleep. Right now, he wanted to curl back up and sleep, hopefully the nightmares would stay away just a little longer. This had certainly been a trying week for a normal person, even more so for an insomniac.

Sakura for once was at a loss for what to do. _'Well now what, I've got him but what am I suppose to do.'_

She decided to try intimidating the boy. Though how she could do that was beyond even her so she just had to hope the fact she held a blade to his neck would work. Maybe she could get some information about where Zabuza was and then they could make a preemptive strike on him before he completely recovered.

'_That's it! That would show Sasuke-kun I'm worthy of his attention. He'll be so pleased he'll forget all about his stupid friend.'_ She thought happily.

"You're the enemy right? Where is the rest of your team?" she demanded moving the kunai closer to his throat. In his semi-awake state Fox had to wonder at the first question.

'_Am I their enemy? According to them, I used to be a leaf ninja, so wouldn't we be on the same side?'_ he mused. '_But then why would she be trying to get information out of me?'_ Fox could feel a headache coming on from the mental block and gave up trying to figure it out, just wanting to go to sleep again. At least there the confusion was gone, if only for a moment. It seemed however, that his respite from the world was over.

Sakura looked down at the boy, he seemed to be out of it and sat there thinking about what she asked him. The silence dragged on and he didn't respond. _'IS HE EVEN PAYING ATTENTION TO ME!'_ she raged in her mind. She was about to hit him when he answered. With his eyes half-lidded, Fox responded.

"I don't know." He said quietly as though he was talking to himself rather than anyone else. This boy obviously didn't think she was enough of a threat to pay attention to. Sakura's eye twitched in anger and she pressed the kunai to his neck. A thin line of blood blossomed under the knife, but it was like this boy didn't even register it was there.

"Answer the question." She said harshly. It seemed to snap the blond out of his inner thoughts and he glared up at her with cold indifference in his eyes. The sudden change in his persona surprised her. His guard was obviously up now and things were not going to be easy.

It was easy for Fox to see the small amount of fear as it became present in her jade eyes. She was so easy to read, it was laughable to think she was a shinobi. Sakura made her first mistake when she left him unbound, a rookie mistake that would have cost the girl her life were it anyone else she pulled this little stunt with. However, if he really was connected with the leaf-nin it would make things difficult for him if he killed or wounded her unless necessary.

"What makes you think that I will rat out my team if I am an enemy?" he asked with ice in his voice. Fox could see her annoyance and fear increasing. She was the type of ninja Zabuza hated and he knew just how to push her buttons for the response he wanted. Sakura was so weak compared to Sasuke, it made him wonder why she was on a team with him. She would hold them back and possibly get her teammates killed. The girl was nothing more than a fan girl, which made her predictable.

"Besides can you even back up your threat? You were an incredibly easy target last night had I actually wanted to kill any of you." He said shifting his weight. "Yes you were just lying there so helpless and vulnerable." He continued with a smirk on his face.

"You had such a contented smile on your face as you talked about your "Sasuke-kun". It would have been so easy to slit your throat or even the builder's if I wanted too. What kind of shinobi doesn't wake up when they sense danger? You are pathetic." He finished coldly. He knew it was cruel, but if she wanted to survive in this business, she needed to wake up. If she was a threat then he might have wanted to kill her. His master would have on the shear principle, but that's not how he did things.

Sakura's blood ran cold as she involuntarily stepped away from him in fear and shock. '_Oh god, is he serious? How did he get inside without Kakashi-sensei knowing?'_ was what she wondered in a panic. Fox saw his chance to escape while Sakura tried to over come her panic and discretely began a few one handed seals, doing them slowly so as not to attract attention.

'_He's bluffing…has to be. There's no way he snuck past a jounin.'_ She thought moving back to her 'captive'. That's when she saw his hands and realized her mistake. She tried to move fast enough to stop him but before she could recover, she saw the wind and leaf whirlwind disappear meaning that the mysterious shinobi got away. In her frustration, she threw the kunai to where the ninja had been just moments before. _'Kuzo!'_

Her mother and father had told her the results of the search…..

"_Kaa-san, did they ever find Naruto?" a 10 year old Sakura asked. It was a simple night survival exam in the forest. Everyone should have been safe since the exam area was marked off and chunnin and upper level genin were on patrol to make sure nothing to serious happened. Plus, the students all had a chakra locator to call for help with if anything not in the test happened._

_That was two weeks ago. No one had seen the boy since they dropped him in the forest. At the end of the test when he didn't come out it was assumed he was just lost and hadn't used the locator because he was embarrassed. By the end of the second night, Iruka and some other teachers went to Naruto's location, which was close to the edge of the exam zone and found signs indicating Naruto had been forced out of the zone by something. Sasuke was worried and they tried to tell him Naruto was ok, just lost and probably trying to find his way back to the village._

_The girl looked at her parents expectantly. While she didn't like her classmate it was scary to think this could have happened to anyone of the other kids. She did hope the idiot was ok, even if it was just so Sasuke-kun would be ok. _

"_No, one found him. There was a lot of his blood all over the place. They found his jacket, but it had bloodstains and was almost in pieces. Since the blood was dry they figured he's been dead since the night of the exams. There wasn't a body, probably because something ate it. I say good riddance." Her father explained to his daughter without looking up from his newspaper. _

_Hearing Naruto was dead only caused a small amount of sadness in her. Mostly she was concerned for her crush. Sasuke had sat at the gate to the village every day so he'd be there when Naruto finally came back. This would crush him._

'_But I can be there to comfort him.' She thought with a smile as she put the blond idiot from her mind…. _

Sakura shook her head to stop the memories. Her jade green eyes narrowed with a determined, stubborn glint. She didn't believe that was Naruto, and nothing would change that. The Naruto she knew was loud, annoying, and stupid, even if Sasuke thought otherwise.

'_So what, he was attacked in the forest during a test. It served him right for wearing that stupid orange outfit.' _As far as she was concerned, Naruto was dead. This other person wasn't him no matter what Sasuke wanted to believe. If this ninja was going to come between her and Sasuke she planned to get rid of him…by any means necessary.

'_I'll get you next time.' _She thought storming off.

…

"What new information do you have Fox?" Zabuza asked from the couch he was sitting on. Fox gave a small bow and knelt in front of Zabuza on one knee. He looked down at the carpet and wondered whether he was doing the right thing by reporting this to Zabuza. Fox's mind began drifting to the conversation he'd had with Sasuke the other night. Zabuza's patience ran thin as Fox did not begin his report.

'_He went against my orders.'_ He thought watching the boy, knowing that the only time he acted like this was when he was guilty of something. It was ridiculously easy to read the boy at times. It was part of the reason he'd made him wear the cloak with the hood up. There were other advantages as it did hide what he looked like and gave them a lower profile.

"I'm waiting Fox." The nuke-nin growled out irritated. Fox quickly snapped from his inner thoughts mentally kicking himself for his stupid mistake.

"Gomen Zabuza, Kakashi is nearly recovered." Fox said quickly to cover from stalling before. "Workers seem to be getting scared and a few are hesitant to continue working but if the pace continues at the current rate it will be close to completion this time next week." The blond finished explaining.

'_Kuzo, why did I hesitate like that?'_ The blonde thought with his fear rising in his stomach. His master expected prompt answers and reports, and he'd just messed up both. Something like that was a sure sign to the swordsman that something was bothering him.

In Zabuza's left hand was an apple that Haku had given him from an earlier meal. He squeezed it in his fist and the apple exploded in a mess of pulp and juice. It felt exhilarating having his strength back after nearly a week of being too weak to even move on his own.

"The two of you get ready. We attack in two days." Zabuza said grinning at the thought of a rematch with the famous copy ninja. How he would relish cleaving the man's head from his shoulders for their last encounter. He would need to be prepared for anything now since the jounin would be waiting a ready for them. He glanced down at the blond in front of him, his faithful subordinate. The lips on his face would have revealed a feral smile could anyone see beneath the bandages around his face. "Fox make another round."

"Yes sir…" Fox said as he remained kneeling before his master. Sensing the older shinobi was done with him the boy stood to leave. With a short bow Fox turned and walked to the doorway and grabbed his pack from where he had discarded it earlier while making a quick check on his supplies. His hand was just short of the doorknob, when he stopped and hesitated. Both Zabuza and Haku noticed Fox's pause.

'_Why is Fox hesitating? Did something happen?' _Haku wondered wanting to ask the younger but knowing that now was not the time for him to do so. It concerned him, since the younger boy had not hesitated in an order from their leader since that incident days earlier and that he was doing it again so soon worried him.

Fox couldn't take it anymore. Zabuza knew something about him that he wasn't telling him and it involved those leaf ninja. The feeling was there in the back of his mind driving him insane. He just had to know what it was. He knew this would get him in trouble in more ways than one, but at the moment he felt the punishment he'd receive would be worth the answers he'd get. The indecision from earlier receded when the blond made up his mind to ask the question that had been plaguing his mind since this job started.

"What…what village am I from?" Fox asked quietly not turning around. Both he and Haku could feel the air in the room thicken. Without turning around he braced himself for what was coming next. Haku knew this would probably not end well and glanced over to see what his master's reaction was. He noticed that Zabuza's eyes narrowed slightly and that his jaw clenched, neither were good signs for Fox.

'_Fox why did you have to bring that up?'_ Haku thought wanting to hit the boy for his stupidity. Inwardly he cringed at the blood he figured Zabuza would spill. To top everything off, if Zabuza did get after the boy, they'd have to rework a few of the plans since it would be unlikely Fox would be able to fight, even with his miraculous healing. _'Great another mess to clean up.'_

"You're still mooning over memories you lost." Zabuza said bitterly and enraged over the fact that the blond was still hung up over this. It had been months since the last time they'd had this discussion. Zabuza's eyes bored into the blond's back and he could see the boy tense under his harsh gaze. "Yes, I found you're half dead carcass in the forests of Konohagakure." The man spat out.

Fox's eyes widened hearing that. _'So it's true….I might really be Uzumaki Naruto….' _He wondered in confusion. "Why didn't you tell me…." He whispered, afraid to face the man that he served. "I could have gone back…." Fox said to himself trying to keep his voice from breaking. This hurt, his master had hid this from him. Zabuza growled in irritation at his subordinate's attitude.

"Get over it." He hissed harshly. "If you had anyone that cared about you in that sorry excuse of a village they wouldn't have left you in the woods to die." Zabuza said standing up. Fox tensed slightly hearing the man's movement. He prayed to Kami that the man wasn't about to tear him a new one. The mist jounin didn't miss this as he shouldered his massive sword, once again becoming accustomed to its weight.

"You were abandoned and nothing will change that whether you can remember what happened or not so get over it." It was a cold truth, but one he felt the boy needed to grasp. Besides, he invested too much time and energy into training his lesser tool for the brat to up and leave him based on knowing where he was found or a feeling or memory that these ninja awoke.

"You owe me a debt boy, don't think that I have forgotten. I nursed your sorry ass back to health and saved your pathetic life. You will serve me until your debt is repaid. A life for a life, and it would do you well to remember that you little brat." Zabuza said coldly.

Fox hadn't forgotten, how could he when every day was a reminder that the man behind him could kill him any moment he chose if he truly wanted to collect on the debt owed.

Zabuza glared at the young teen, _'I'm going to break him of this once and for all.' _He thought on seeing no reaction from his scout. Fox didn't even move as the man continued to reprimand him. Zabuza spoke again, what he couldn't see was that every word he spoke was like a knife stabbing into the blond.

"If it will cure you of your delusions go ask the Konoha shinobi to tell you the truth?" he said and saw the blond flinch.

"Get out and go do your job. When this is over I'll deal with your insubordination." The man said indicating they were through talking. The silence reigned in the living room for a moment longer. Fox cringed inwardly knowing what was coming would not be pleasant. He decided to leave before the man changed his mind and beat him now for the hell of it. Fox exited the room quietly closing the door behind him, not once looking back to see the faces of the rooms occupants.

…..

Fox grunted as he punched the tree before him in an attempt to sort out the confusion and anxiety he still felt from the encounter. The workout he'd used so often before wasn't helping. Usually pain solved his indecision. Tree bark flew from the tree's surface as Fox slammed his fists into the tree repeatedly, desperately trying to reach an end to his mental battle with himself. His normally intense blue eyes were unfocused as he stared before himself.

'_If I go ask them I'd learn the truth, or would I?'_ he thought. But that little voice was constantly whispering doubt in his ear. _'But how do you know that anything they say is true?'_ it hissed violently. _'Also that would mean that I doubt Zabuza. But he wouldn't lie to me would he?'_ Naruto questioned back. The older ninja never lied to him before.

'_But he never said you were from Konoha….did he?'_ the boys conscience make a point that was like a sledge hammer to Fox's mind. _'No! He didn't lie…I mean why would he lie to me?'_ he asked himself furiously. It made no sense. _'What possible reason would he have to lie to me about this?'_ he thought. What was an exercise to calm himself down was only serving to infuriate and confuse him more. The blond let loose a frustrated scream.

"Kuzo!" Fox yelled punching the tree even harder. The bark was completely destroyed from the force behind his punch. He winced in pain a moment later as he pulled his fist away. There was a burning sensation in his hand along his knuckles. Looking down at them, Fox found he'd spilt them open from punching the tree. There were a few splatters of his blood in the tree before him to show it wasn't this last punch that had done it either. The blond merely stared at his bloody knuckles for a moment watching the blood run down the back of his hand and staining the edges of his white shirt sleeves. Oddly enough he found it calming. He smirked to himself then, had anyone seen him, they would have thought he was crazy.

'_He gave me orders to talk to them. I can worry about who is telling the truth after I hear both stories.'_ Fox thought flexing his grip after bandaging his knuckles with a piece of his shirt. The wind picked up then and when it died down there was no trace of his ever being there except the blood on the tree.

* * *

I hate this chapter…..I spent hours on it trying to fix this mess and it's still lacking (in my opinion). If you enjoyed it, I'm glad and I apologize for the shortness and lack of finesse if not. Helpful criticism is most welcome for this chapter. I figured since I haven't updated in so long I'd give you the previous chapter and this shorter one…..I may well repost this if I get the time to truly fix this. In case you haven't figured out…I hate Sakura and find her to be utterly useless except as a scapegoat. (Sorry Sakura lovers but that's my opinion and at this point in the series she really was that pathetic.)


	6. Chapter 6 Fighting For Answers

Chapter 6: Fighting For Answers

"Try it again Sasuke, this time walk upside down on the branch." Kakashi said. Sasuke nodded and gathered his chakra using the ram seal. His dark eyes snapped open when he was ready.

The teen shot himself at the tree and bolted up massive trunk. He was half way up when a kunai embedded itself into the wood only a mere three feet in front of him with a loud thunk. Sasuke's eyes widened and in self-defense, the boy back flipped off the tree to avoid being hit by a secondary strike. Using chakra to stabilize his landing, the Uchiha settled into a crouch next to the one eyed jounin. Kakashi's keen eyes were already scanning the trees for the where their attacker could be. It only took a few seconds before his eyes met achingly familiar blue orbs, belonging to a certain young blond.

Sasuke's eyes weren't very far behind the jounin's. The boy's eyes lit up in recognition on seeing the now familiar teen. "Naruto!" Sasuke said, happy to see his surrogate brother once again. When the blond didn't respond and stared at him with a guarded coolness, it was then Sasuke noticed the wary look in those blue eyes.

"Naruto?" he asked confused, not understanding the blond's withdrawal. They had just talked and laughed the previous night, just like before everything happened, so what caused his brother to change. Kakashi sensed the confusion that poured from the Uchiha.

Fox was beginning to rethink coming here. The boy shifted his weight and looked back behind him, as though he was unsure of what he was doing was the right thing. This was suicide. They were going to strike in sixteen hours or less. He could be captured and tortured for information on the upcoming attack and he wasn't so sure he could hold out against Kakashi if the man got rough with him.

'_I'm here now, so I'll have to deal with the consequences as they come. There's no point in second guessing now.'_ He finally thought solidifying his determination for what he was going to do.

Kakashi could tell Naruto, or whatever he went by now, was battling with himself over something that would prove to be very important. Whatever the issue was, he seemed to have resolved to deal with it as he shook his head to clear his doubts. His intense blue orbs focused their gaze on the two ninja present bellow him.

"Tell me one thing," Fox said in a tone that demanded answers, "You claim that I'm from your village, so tell me….." he started choosing his words with the utmost care, knowing that one wrong word now would have serious repercussions. "How did Konoha treat me?" he finished expecting his question to be answered. Kakashi was at a loss for how to answer him.

The jounin gazed over Naruto's body and noticed the boy's bloodstained bandaged hands. _'He's not going to leave here without answers. The boy's finally reached his breaking point over this.'_ The jounin realized. _'But what can I tell him?'_ he wondered as the blond's face clearly showed his patience was wearing thin.

Fox's temper rose quickly as the silence lengthened and he was regretting even coming here. _'Zabuza was right, or they're just trying to stall for time.'_ He thought gritting his teeth to keep from saying or doing something. The minutes continued to tick by and Fox's patience reached it's end.

'_I've had enough.'_ He thought turning to leave while pulling his cloak closer around him. "This was a waste of time." He said in agitation. Oddly enough, Sasuke choose that moment to answer Fox.

"Naruto…." The Uchiha said hesitantly, which caused the blond to pause. He had Fox's attention. Sasuke continued slowly, unsure of how to continue but he did so just to keep Naruto from leaving. "I don't know or understand why…..but there were people in the village that treated you unfairly." He stated, knowing Naruto wouldn't like what he was saying, but at least he was telling the blond the truth.

"In fact…..most of the village didn't like you but for those of us you were close to…it crushed us. We looked for you for weeks, Naruto. I wanted to do more but they restricted me to inside the village walls. None of us were the same after that. I felt like I had lost my family all over again."

Then tension in the air was thick enough to slice with a sword, as Sasuke finished his explanation. The clearing was silent for a while then as both parties seemed to think and reflect on what was just said. Kakashi could do nothing but wait for Naruto to react.

Fox's mind was in overdrive as he tried to process the new information. He brought a hand to his forehead wincing as the now familiar headache returned. There was too much truth to the raven-haired teen's words….and it bothered him. It drove home everything Zabuza had told him over the last two years.

'_Zabuza was right about everything… ….except…'_ He thought rapidly as he reviewed everything that the two groups had told him. It made no sense that the stories were so similar….it just wasn't feasible to be so close. _'Shit! Why couldn't they be completely different stories? God I feel like my head is going to explode!'_ he screamed mentally to himself. When the pounding in his head ebbed finally, he looked down at them again.

Naruto's voice had taken on a frigid tone that clearly held betrayal, pain and anger. He wouldn't even look them in the eyes, as though he was afraid to see the truth revealed in their eyes.

"You expect me to believe you." It came as a whisper that bit through the still silence. "Are you trying to trick me? Do you think I'm stupid? That I'm so desperate, I'll just go along with whatever you tell me." Fox said coldly glaring at them. His voice grew louder as he shouted the last sentence.

"What reason would I have to lie to you?" Sasuke asked exasperatedly with an edge of frustration in his normally calm voice. "Naruto I don't know how to make you believe me. You're my….." Sasuke almost pleaded with his friend just to be cut off by the blond's mocking tone.

"Yeah, I know. 'I'm your best friend.' " the boy in the tree taunted with a sneer on his face. "But there's a problem with that….you can't prove anything that you're telling me." Naruto said jumping down from the tree, his black cloak billowed around him as he stood. Kakashi could tell that there wasn't a hole in this boy's defensive stance. Fox knew what was at stake and acted accordingly….like a true rouge ninja. Sasuke could tell his childhood friend had grown much more serious than he'd ever been. Fox wasted little time in continuing his monologue.

"So why should I believe anything you tell me? You could be lying about that too for all I know." He said as his blue eyes bored into Sasuke's onyx ones. It was obvious that the blond didn't trust the two of them.

Sasuke's temper and pride came rushing to the surface then. _'He still doesn't believe me!'_ He didn't lie to Naruto. He promised he would never lie to him. However much the idiot had changed, at least something was still the same. _'His skull is as thick as ever. If this was at home I'd….'_ Suddenly Sasuke's eyes widened just barely as he had a stroke of genius. He knew exactly how to use this to his advantage here. Maybe Naruto would be staying with them after this.

"If you want proof….. then fight me." Sasuke said smoothly, after getting control over his emotions. "You never could beat me in a fair fight." Sasuke said throwing in that one little barb that Naruto wouldn't be able to resist challenging. He smirked to himself seeing that tiny gleam of anger at his last remark. _'I'm going to make him remember even if I have to do it with my fists..'_ The teen thought watching the blond.

Naruto just threw back his cloak and settled into some different taijutsu stance Sasuke had never seen before. It showed off his toned body that had barely any of the normal baby fat that a young teen always had. Muscle corded around his legs and arms while his midsection looked to be rock solid. Obviously Zabuza pushed the teen hard, because that most certainly wasn't there two years ago. Looking into the boy's cobalt eyes both of the leaf ninja could see determination to prove those words wrong.

"Fine with me!" he shot back, anger in his voice as he charged in towards Sasuke. Kakashi just looked on, ready to jump in if he was needed as the blond rushed the Uchiha. There was more than rage driving his charge. There was desperation and determination to get his answers. And he was ready to beat them out of Sasuke at any cost.

Sasuke got his arms up to block the attack just in time as Naruto's fist connected solidly with his block. _'Shit, the dope's gotten faster.'_ His arms stung a bit from the impact alerting Sasuke to something else._'…..and stronger too it seems.'_ He thought as he flipped back from the momentum, kicking Naruto's chest in the process. This forced the blond to stagger back, much to the blond's irritation. He had the wind knocked out of him, but his recovery was too fast for it to give Sasuke the advantage.

The blond's emotions showed plain as day upon his face. He was pissed that the brunet had gotten such a solid hit in. Sasuke attempted a spear hand thrust while moving back in close to keep Naruto from using his sword. The blond's eyes widened slightly as he ducked the of coming attack. Using his duck the boy went lower for his counter attack. His right leg swung out in an attempt to sweep Sasuke's feet. Sasuke noticed and jumped up to avoid the attack and then used his momentum gained from the action, spun downwards sending his foot towards Fox's head. Fox rolled clear just in time as dust settled back down from their motions.

'_Not bad,'_ Fox thought with a smirk, _'but not good enough.'_ He concluded as he reset his stance. If one thing doesn't work, try something else you know. Fighting only one way would get you killed, he'd seen it himself with other nuke-nin. Sasuke stared back at him as they locked eyes once again. The Uchiha seemed to have read his mind as he too smirked and gestured to the blond with his hand, to come at him with total smugness. Both rushed at the other with remarkable speed for genin.

The two became locked in what seemed an endless flurry of Tai-jutsu skill. As fast as Naruto was he couldn't dodge all of Sasuke's attacks. For every hit Naruto dealt he received with interest. After 10 minutes the fight was moving more in the Uchiha's favor and Fox realized it. The Uchiha had him bested in straight taijutsu. The smug bastard knew it too, as irritation showed in his eyes, judging from the superior look on the teen's face as Sasuke once again evaded his attack and returned the hit.

This fight showed him that his victory from his previous encounter against the Uchiha had been due the unexpectedness and the fact Sasuke had to deal with his bladed weapon, something he knew he was better at than Sasuke. After all having the demon of the mist quite literally beat swordsmanship into you, didn't leave much to be desired in one's skills. He wasn't the best, but given another few years…..well who's to say what he'd be capable of…..assuming he lived that long. The blond was startled out of his musing when the other teen threw him backwards into ground. Naruto rolled back to his feet, while gritting his teeth realizing that his options were becoming fewer by the second. Growing desperate Fox drew a kunai and ran for Sasuke again. Fair fighting be damned, he was a ninja, they didn't fight fair if they wanted to live.

Sasuke was concerned when he saw the flash of a blade as Naruto charged him. He reacted and drew his own kunai and charged as well. Kakashi frowned knowing things just got more dangerous. The Naruto he knew wouldn't break the rules, bend them yes but never would he pull a knife in a sparing match. Still this wasn't out of Sasuke's control just yet so he continued to watch. As the teens raced towards each other something clicked in the back of Fox's memory…..

_Fox stood in the forest clearing of his nightmares. The great ring of trees had no opening to escape from it at all. Looking up he could see the pale crescent moon barely illuminating the sinister clearing he stood in. His body was cut up and he was bleeding badly from multiple lacerations on his arms and back. For all he knew he should be dead right now. Smaller cuts and gashes laced across the visible skin on his body and through some of the tears in his tattered orange jumpsuit. The boy's breathing was coming in ragged gasps showing he was on his last legs. His adrenalin was even to the point of giving out. _

_Something moving in the shadows caught Fox's attention as he turned around _

_franticly searching for his pursuer, whom he knew to be close by. A tall figure stepped from the shadows, his face still hidden by the darkness around both of them. A hauntingly familiar sword rose up into a spearing stance at the person's shoulder, the light of the moon glinted dangerously on down the sword's blade as they readied for another attack on him. Fox's eyes widened in fear and tears rolled down his cheeks as he stood there in terror unable to make his body respond. He trembled as the person stepped forwards even more slowly that before. _

_Fox could see their eyes, frightening eyes that were filled with blood lust and killer intent. The killer began moving even faster and all Fox could do was stand there. His body was shaking in terror as he stared his death in the face. He couldn't see the man's face, but he could sense the man's sadistic grin, that was gleeful at the thought of rending him in two. _

"_Die Fox!" The attacker screamed as they brought the sword even with where the ten year old's heart should be. _

'_I don't wanna die…..' he thought in terror as his heart beat echoed through his mind. _

'_I DON'T WANNA DIE!' His terror triggered his leg muscles, and released his fear-induced paralysis. At the last second Fox stepped back in a panic. Simultaneously his foot stepped into thin air, while he felt the katana's lethal edge sink into his shoulder. The momentum from the sword's stab caused him to fall backwards. He fell into a black abyss, all the while his shoulder screaming in agony._

….

Sasuke ran at Naruto ready to force his friend into submission. When they were only 5 feet from each other Sasuke saw the blond's eyes lose focus, like he wasn't there in reality. _'Damnit! I can't stop!'_ Sasuke realized as the distance closed between the two of them. To his horror Sasuke's kunai plunged into Naruto's right shoulder. Blood burst forth from the injury as Sasuke stared at it in shock. _'No! I didn't….This wasn't supposed to happen!' _

That pain brought Fox back to reality because it was real. The first thing he registered after the pain was Sasuke's face. He was surprised and afraid of what he'd done.

"Naruto…I'm..I'm sorry…I didn't…mean to." Sasuke stuttered out as he stared at his hands that had a slight amount of Fox's blood on them.

'_What is he talking about?'_ He winced feeling pain in his shoulder. _'Why does my shoulder hurt so bad?'_ Looking down he saw Sasuke's kunai sticking out of his shoulder. Blood covered the handle of the blade and Sasuke's hand where it had held the weapon.

Quickly Fox checked his wound out of habit. _'It's not deep and it cleared all the blood vessels. Nothing serious but shit it hurts.'_ He thought wincing. _'I have to finish this now. I can't afford many more of these injuries.'_ He thought moving to attack Sasuke again with his kunai raised.

To both Sasuke and Kakashi's bewilderment the blond though obviously in pain seemed to shrug it off and tried to continue the fight. Sasuke ducked his punch and then round house kicked Fox on reflex into a nearby tree pointing another kunai at Fox's neck. The fight was over and the winner was clear. Naruto tried to get up and continue the fight then.

"Don't waist your energy. Like I said you never could beat me." He said lowering the kunai and extending a hand to help Naruto up. Fox looked up at Sasuke as the boy blindly extended his hand to help him up.

'_You're dumber than you look. Never underestimate me.'_ His first mistake was lowering the kunai and the second thinking that Fox was going to surrender. A look of confusion passed across the Uchiha's face as Naruto's eyes narrowed strangely. The blonde grabbed Sasuke's extended hand while turning and pulled Sasuke over his shoulder slamming him into the ground and tree behind him. The blond threw and smoke bomb that covered the clearing reducing visibility to zero. When the smoke cleared he was gone.

"Wait, Naruto come back!" Sasuke yelled but silence was the only answer he received. In frustration Sasuke punched a tree. _'Damn it!'_ He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Kakashi.

"I think you made him remember something Sasuke. That look in his eyes when you stuck him with the kunai was unfocused, like his mind was elsewhere. I doubt this is the last time we'll see him. Don't give up hope just yet." Sasuke didn't say anything but nodded and the two started walking back to the house.

'_Come back little brother.'_ Sasuke thought.

…

Haku sighed packing away the last of his and Fox's gear that the blond had left since it would have gotten in the way of his assignments. _'There that's done. Why isn't Fox back yet? He is never this late.'_ Haku thought worrying about his adopted brother. Haku fingered his hunter-nin mask remembering when Fox gave it to him….

"_Haku! Where are you? I have a present for you." The ten year old yelled running towards their current "home". Haku jumped down from the trees in front of Fox scaring the younger boy. _

"_Ahhh!" he yelled stumbling backwards, with his shirt sleeve sliding off his shoulder revealing the bloodstained bandages around the smaller boy's shoulder. _

_Haku sighed and wanted to yell at the boy for running off again. _

"_Fox you don't need to run off again. Zabuza is very angry at you." Haku said taking the blonde's hand to help him up. 'Zabuza is going to beat him for this.' The older boy thought sadly. Fox looked a little ashamed. _

"_But I made something for you Haku." He said holding out a ragged orange cloth. Haku recognized it as the remains of the boy's pants that they had found him in. He could see the bloodstains still there. Haku had given Fox a pair of shorts and one of Zabuza's old shirts the missing-nin had thrown away which was way too big for Fox._

"_What is that?" Haku asked having never received a gift before, well at least not for a very long time. Fox looked at him like he had an extra head or something. _

"_Well?" Haku asked growing impatient with the boy's hesitation. _

"_It's a present. Just for you." Fox said smiling like he did every once it a while. Haku gently took the orange bundle and unwrapped it to reveal a white shinobi mask with the mist symbol painted on the forehead. A red swirl like shape going across it._

'_He made this….It's incredible!' the older boy thought looking at the mask in shock. _

"_Do you like it?" The ten year old asked curiously. Haku noticed that Fox looked afraid of being rejected. _

"_It's wonderful otouto." Haku replied smiling. _

_That same smile crossed Haku's lips once again as he donned the mask. 'I will not let you become like me Fox. You deserve better in this life.'_

"Haku!" Zabuza said roughly coming in from the other room. The feminine boy snapped to attention. Zabuza didn't turn around so Haku relaxed slightly as he was addressed. "We're moving out now, let's go." As he moved towards the door to leave, not betraying his emotion Haku looked up in surprise.

"Zabuza-sama, what about Fox, he isn't back yet." Haku asked in his toneless voice. He really cared for the blond and they never left him behind on a job, especially if he was part of the plan.

Zabuza stopped in the doorway and growled. '_That's not like him. Something's wrong.'_ Zabuza thought without moving from his place. The blond was never late. He might be nearby training or something similar, but he was always ready to do his job.

"He'll catch up." Zabuza said leaving. They were operating on a time window, and any waiting would close it. _'He'd better or I'll beat him within an inch of his life.'_ Besides the brat was probably still observing the others. Wordlessly Haku grabbed their gear and followed his master out the door.

'_Please be ok little brother.'_ Haku thought looking back over the room and with that he closed the door behind him.

…..

The blond sat crouched at the base of a tree deep in the woods as he treated his wound. Taking a deep breath, Fox grit his teeth and pulled the kunai clear of his shoulder, with only a grunt of discomfort. A small spurt of blood came from his shoulder as the blade came out. He dropped the blade to the ground and began inspecting the wound more thoroughly. As he'd originally thought the wound wasn't bad but man did it hurt like hell.

'_Well I definitely won't be using my left arm to full capacity in the next fight. That means I'll be limited to what I can do with my sword…Zabuza's gonna be pissed.'_ He thought as he placed a quick bandage around the wound to stop the bleeding and keep it from getting infected or worse, and tore the bandage off with his teeth. He carefully replaced his bandages in his cloak as he stood up. His eyes fell on the offending weapon when he saw the bright crimson on the ground.

The blond picked up the blade and stared at it. Old emotions surged to the surface. All of his rage at being abandoned by Konoha came rushing back and hit him full force. His fight with the Uchiha had reopened that painful wound. The blond clenched his eyes closed and raised the knife over his head while growling in frustration through his teeth.

"I hate you all!" Fox screamed to the empty forest causing a few birds to take flight. He made to throw Sasuke's kunai away but as he was about to release it he couldn't bring himself to throw it away for some reason. He stood there for a few seconds struggling with himself. Slowly, Fox lowered his hand and opened his eyes to see the offending weapon laying in his palm. There was a slight trail of his blood along the blade's edge. Near the base of the hilt was the engraving of a fan, it was barely even noticeable. Fox gently wiped away the blood and held the kunai in both hands.

'_Even if I was abandoned to die…..he wasn't the one to do it. Maybe he is telling the truth.'_ He thought remembering the look on Sasuke's face and the tone of his voice. He looked genuinely sorry, like he cared. Sighing he slipped the kunai into the pouch strapped to his leg. He had other things to think about now, namely what Zabuza was going to do to him. Groaning a little he headed back to the compound to face Zabuza's wrath for his actions, Haku's yelling for his carelessness, and then a little sleep before facing Sasuke once again.

'_No problem. Then we'll be finished with this mission and we can ditch the fat man.'_ But why did it make him feel sick to his stomach. Curious as to what the time was, the blond glanced at the sky. To his surprise, the sun was much farther that it should have been. _'Great I'm over 2 hours late for my report….Zabuza's gonna kill me.'_ Fox thought wincing at what Zabuza would do to him once the mission was over.

…

Kakashi stood in the training clearing at sunset. His two charges were nowhere to be seen as he stood in the center of the clearing. His mind was replaying the whole encounter from that afternoon. The blond, he looked so much like the little ball of sunshine that he'd had a small hand in raising. Still he couldn't be sure that it was truly him. There was still the chance, however unlikely it really was, that this was some sort of elaborate ruse on the part of Zabuza and his subordinates to unbalance their team mentally.

'_This should help clear a few things up.' _He thought as he bit his thumb drawing forth the red liquid he needed. A series of hand signs too fast for anyone chunnin or lower to be able to read flashed through the jounin's hands before he slammed his right palm into the ground. A vast array of complex black seal marks lit and spread outward from his spread hand going first into a circle before then forming off into short branches extending from the circle. This took less than a second as a poof of thick grey smoke obscured Kakashi's vision briefly.

As the smoke cleared Kakashi stood from his kneeling position and waited with his hands lazily in his pockets. Sitting in the center of his summoning array was a small brown pug with a Konoha headband and blue vest adorning its body.

"Kakashi, you needed something?" the small dog asked as it looked up as the silver haired man.

"Pakun, do you remember Naruto's scent?" He asked all business. The small dog was taken back.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Pakun. I need to know."

"You found him?" the dog asked with a slight bit of shock in its voice.

"That's what I need you to confirm. So do you remember the scent?" the jounin asked kneeling and looking the dog in the eye.

"There's no way I could forget it Kakashi." The pug said softly. He remembered all to well looking through the whole blood soaked forest for the child. The scent was one that had been seared into his mind. Kakashi nodded, a small amount of relief coursed through his veins. His hand pointed to the tree on the far side of the clearing.

"He first stood there. His scent should be all around the clearing."

Pakun trotted over to the tree and gave a careful sniff. His eyes widened in recognition as the aroma hit his nose. The small dog got several more whiffs and followed the scent towards the center of the clearing to where it met and overlapped with Sasuke's. After that the two mingled and spread out all over the place. At the base of another tree he found traces of blood, this only a few hours old.

"Well…" The pug sat and looked at Kakashi.

"It's Naruto's scent alright. Somehow." The dog said.

"You're sure?"

"There's not a doubt in my mind Kakashi." He said walking to sit beside his summoner.

"That helps a little with the problem at hand."

"You think it's an imposter." Pakun stated knowing of the jounin's paranoid behavior.

"I'm thinking its less likely now. There's no conceivable way I can fathom as to how Zabuza could know about someone who is technically dead and their connection to me and be able to replicate the scent to the point you are absolutely sure of it." Kakashi said looked up at the red and orange sky. "And this doesn't fit Zabuza's method of operating. He only plays psychological games on the battlefield. Something this elaborate isn't his style."

"Are you going to tell Sasuke it's really him?" The man shook his head.

"No, I won't crush his hopes again. There's only one way to know for sure that this "Fox" is really Naruto."

"The seal."

"Exactly. There's no way for it to be faked or copied. If it's there the boy really is Naruto. If not….." Kakashi didn't want to think about what that would mean.

"How do you plan to check?"

"I have no idea."

Sorry for the delay everyone. A lot a has happened lately. My niece was born, I was busy with my job, classes resumed…..so much so little time….and then on top of it I had to retype two chapters of the story from scratch and work on the editing all over again. Thanks for staying with me and for all the favorite story marks everyone. R&R.


	7. Chapter 7 Betrayal from the Dark

Hey Guys! I know this update is much sooner that the previous one. Anyways first I want to say thanks to my two reviewers: **animerockchic **and **HikariNoTenshi-San**. You can thank them for me getting this chapter out quickly. Reviews motivate me to write faster as I know people care. Keep in mind I'll still update things, its just that they come faster if I get reviews. I also want to say thanks for the 9 new favorite story tags from the last chapter.

If anyone hasn't noticed I have another new oneshot Titled Which One's For You. It was the by product of so much positive response to my story Only to You. If you like my writing, please go check these out. Anyways enjoy the chapter.

********WARNING CHAPER CONTAINS GORE AT END*********

***** CONTENT RATED ****M!**** YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! *****

Chapter 7: Betrayal from the Dark

It was completely dark by the time he made it back to the compound after making sure he hadn't been followed. Fox couldn't see anyone out, not even the normal guards as he walked around the base entrance and first level.

'_That's odd. Where is everybody? I'm not that late am I?'_ He knew the hour wasn't that late by the moon's position. Even if it was someone would have still been on duty here. Gatou was a paranoid little man if nothing else. Something just didn't feel right as he headed towards the rooms that Zabuza occupied taking the longer civilian friendly route opposed to the wall jumping he preferred. As he neared the room two levels up he paused as his instincts screamed at him. Even after climbing two flights of stairs and going thru several hallways, he still sensed and saw nothing. That's what got him worried.

'_I should have at least seen some bugs by now. I mean this is the middle of the forest close to a river, there is no way this place can be devoid of all life.'_ The blond thought stopping in his tracks as he glanced around for anything. His sense of smell was nearly worthless with all the damn air fresheners that Gatou had around his base. Growling at himself in irritation Fox made himself calm down and continue walking.

'_Relax you're being paranoid. That fight took a little more out of you than you realized and you haven't been sleeping for the past few days…hell I'm probably having a psychotic episode considering just how much sleep I really get.'_ He mused with a silent chuckle as he let his shoulders relax._ 'There is absolutely nothing wrong here. There's no bugs because the fat bastard constantly sprays and kills them regularly. The guards are poorly trained street thugs and most likely are either asleep or screwing one of the whores Gatou keeps on staff.'_ He thought just as he reached the door to Zabuza's quarters.

'_See, you're gonna go in that room and see that everyth-'_ he thought opening the door only to immediately dive to the side as he heard a wire snap inside, narrowly avoiding a barrage of sharp kunai.

'_What the hell?'_ He could see the razor sharp gleam from the moonlight hitting the blade as three passed just inches from his face before the thudded deeply into the wall across from the door. He almost breathed a sigh of relief but the traps didn't end there. Fox's eyes locked on the near transparent wire that was sliced into by one of the many knives. He waited several seconds for the next trap only for there to be silence and no movement in the hall. It was over.

As he stood up to catch his breath he heard the snapping of another wire from the dead end to his right. His eyes widened drastically as he saw the spears launched from the other end of the hall. _'Shit!' _His hand instinctively wrapped around the hilt of his sword as he swung while using his draw technique cutting one of the first spears in half. Using his sword, he continued to block most of the oncoming projectiles. He missed three of the last spears as they launched in a different pattern than the first three sets giving him a shallow slice on his left hip, right shoulder and trimmed a small bit from his long blond hair. This time there was nothing else. Fox remained frozen as one wrong move here could get him killed. A cold sweat rolled down his back as the situation really hit him. Either Zabuza had trapped the room to kill Gatou and hadn't told him or someone was trying to kill the group. _'I need to get out of here first…..I can worry about who rigged this shit then.' _Closing his eyes he focused, trying to remember what Zabuza and Haku told him to do in a trap-infested area. His mind quickly recalled the time when Haku and Zabuza had been training him.

…

_Fox hit the ground hard as Zabuza cut him down from the simple rope snare trap he had fallen into. The child tried to curl into a fetal position at his teacher's feet, if only to protect himself from anymore physical pain. He didn't have to look up to know that the man was glaring in disappointment at him. _

"_You are pathetic." he growled out in disgust. Zabuza's words cut the small boy worse than if he were to use his fists. "That was the simplest trap there is and you fell for it. Do some training if you want to eat this week Fox." The former mist-ninja said walking off leaving a battered and bruised blonde lying on the ground in pain. _

'_I'm doing the best I can. What more does he want of me?' he thought struggling to stand up. He was determined not to cry as he held back his tears. His whole body was aching from the regime of brutal exercises the swordsman put him through that morning on top of his trap identification training…that he'd just failed. _

"_Fox…" he heard behind him. Turning around Fox saw Haku. The child sighed and turned away from the older boy. Being around Haku after Zabuza yelled at him always made him feel worse, because in Zabuza's eyes Haku was the best. And right now he wasn't in the mood to deal with it._

"_What Haku…" he asked with a dejected voice. He could still see Haku from the corner of his eye as the boy moved closer. The older boy sighed and shook his head. 'I bet he's laughing at me, because he's better. Why can't I be like him and be really good too?' He thought sourly. _

"_I wanted to show you a trick for avoiding those types of traps." Haku said turning to leave, "But if you don't want me here now…" _

"_Wait!" he called out reaching out to the teen. He mentally smacked himself for seeming so eager. "I mean…what trick? How do I do it?" Fox asked almost nervously. It hurt his pride to ask for help from the perfect student. He shoved the feeling down. 'Anything is worth it if it gets me recognition, even tips from Haku…' he thought with a look of determination in his eyes. He knew that Haku lured him into asking, but at the moment he didn't care. _

_Haku motioned him forward and put his hands into a ram seal. A small flare of chakra outlined his hand briefly. Fox watched in amazement as the brunet then proceeded to walk up the trunk of the tree behind him. The blond looked up at him with almost wonder on his face. _

"_Sugoi!" Fox said as Haku landed back on the ground after doing a graceful flip. "How do I do it Ni-san?" he asked excitedly. _

"_You channel chakra to your feet and use it to stick to the surfaces of walls and trees. That way you can avoid traps and it will increase your chakra control." Haku told the ten year old while showing him how to do it. The whole while there was a smile on his face from Fox's comment. _

…

Fox jumped up on the wall careful not to touch the floor or anything that might trigger another trap. Using his chakra he clung to it with his feet and palms, listening for the next attack just to be safe. Whoever was behind this little surprise, they weren't a ninja he figured since the timing wasn't fast enough to catch trained shinobi off guard, but that didn't mean they couldn't get lucky.

'_I never did thank Haku for telling me how to avoid traps.' _with that thought he crawled along the wall down the whole length of the hallway. He stayed up there once he reached the stairwell. There was yet another tripwire, this one set strung between the two railings in the open space that extended the height of the building going from the floor below him to the base of the stairwell. Looking up he almost missed the wires that crisscrossed the upper two levels. He couldn't see just what the wire was attached to, but if he were to venture a guess he'd have to say it was some type of explosive. He sat there staring at the trap for several minutes. It hadn't been there when he'd swept the base defenses several days ago. If it weren't for all the incense in the building and ventilation he might have been able to tell how recent. Why had this been added? More importantly, why to a route most ninja would use without a moments hesitation.

'_I need to find Zabuza and Haku. Something's not right here. I'd say our mission's been changed and I have no idea what our objective is any more. Or if we're even on the same side any more.'_

The blond proceeded slowly and carefully, the process doing a number on his chakra reserves as he had to stop and plan every movement lest he trigger something potentially lethal. Just as he reached the entrance floor and thought he was home free, his luck and chakra ran out. He lost his grip on the wall and fell to the floor. His hand tripped a wire, which sent a kunai off into the dark behind him. In a daze he looked back through the dark as he crouched defensively. He saw a small flash of light that could only mean one thing, Fox realized as his eyes widened in terror.

'_Oh shit!'_ and he took off running forgetting caution because if he didn't get farther away caution wouldn't matter.

The explosion blew him out the entryway just before he reached it with enough force to stun him completely. Shards of the wood struck him as he hit the ground hard several feet away from the now burning double doors that lead inside. He was alive but that didn't mean much. Groaning he pulled himself partway from under the wreckage that had landed on top of him before his muscles quit in protest from the shock of the blast. His vision swam dangerously leaving him operating in a blind fog of blurriness and smoke. Fox could feel splinters of wood digging into his back and his skin tingling from burns though. Arid smoke clogged his nose and lungs taking the place of all the damn incense from earlier.

"Well, well looks like he was better than we thought sir. The blast didn't kill him." He heard someone say as the ringing in his ears started to disappear. About that time someone or something grabbed him by the hair and pulled him the rest of the way out of the wreckage. Fox hissed in pain as they jerked on his scalp, his own hands unable move at all at the moment. Other hands grabbed his arms and hauled Fox to his feet. With his vision slowly coming back into focus, he recognized Gatou and the normal thugs accompanying him.

"What's going on?" Fox asked hoarsely, his head still swimming from the hit he took to it. His back stung from the small pieces of wreckage imbedded in it. He could tell he was bleeding from a few small cuts while his chest was bruised from where he landed on it. When the small greasy man moved closer to him, Fox gagged over his cheap cologne that was used in an attempt to cover his foul body odor when the man got only an inch from his face.

"To put it bluntly I don't have a use for you and your boss anymore. So I'm going to get rid of you. You're too costly to pay off so this was the next option." Gatou said bending to eyelevel with Fox. One thug held him by each arm since he could barely standup from the shock of the explosion and also to ensure he couldn't fight back.

"That reminds me, there's something I meant to give you." Gatou said straightening up. He drove his knee straight between Fox's legs. Blue eyes widened in pain as the air was driven from the boy's body. His eyes clenched shut on reflex while he choked on air. The pain was excruciating and it didn't help that the thugs let him go, letting him hit the ground full force. His vision was spotted and blurred as his eyes watered from pain now. Listening was pretty much his only option with how messed up he was.

"You guys take care of him and then meet us at the bridge like we planned. We'll get rid of Zabuza and Tazuna. Who knows we might get lucky and get the Konoha ninja killed too." Gatou said his voice getting more distant.

'_Iie.'_ He thought willing his muscles to pick his body up. The blond didn't like what he was hearing. Gatou had turned on them, and Zabuza didn't know. This compromised everything. Fox knew that if he was going to have any chance of survival or escape he had to start moving now. But unfortunately to his ire, his body still wouldn't respond to his urgings.

'_Kuzo! Come on move!'_ He thought looking towards the trees through narrowed eyes trying to see. It was getting clearer as the smoke was drifting the other way….but it wasn't quick enough. One thug planted their foot firmly in the middle of his back to keep him from moving. A cold sweat built on the blond's back, knowing things were about to get much worse.

"Come on he's totally helpless. Let's just kill him quick and get this over with. Besides aren't you supposed to go grab the builder's daughter and grandson?" Another said almost lazily, obviously not wanting to waist his time killing a child. Fox nearly winced as a psychotic chuckle sounded over him.

"Where's the fun in killing him quickly? There'll still be plenty of time to grab the woman and brat. Besides I want to hear him scream, it's the best part. Consider this the insurance that Gatou will get the other two in one piece." The thug said drawing Fox's sword from it's sheath. The blond growled as the man took his weapon, they simply ignored him with an air of superiority. "No, I want to break his spirit and make him want death." They said settling into a crouch while grabbing a fist full of Fox's hair looking into his face and putting the sword against his throat. There was a small trickle of blood that came from the precision edge of his own blade. Fox could see the sadistic gleam of blood lust in the man's eyes and smelled the alcohol on his breath. The man released him and stood over him once more.

"I want him to realize just how worthless he really is, and realize that no one cares about him." As he was speaking, something at the back of Fox's mind surged forward…..

…_._

"_Hey Naruto what's wrong?" Kakashi asked the 6 year old. Naruto sat on his swing in the park with tearstains on his face. He sniffed and stubbornly wiped the offending marks away trying to hide them but he gave up as new tears just rolled down his whiskered cheeks. _

"_Why does everyone hate me so much? I just wanted to play with this little girl but her mom pulled her away from me. She was mad at me….and she called me a demon." He said before he looked up at the masked man with unshed tears in his eyes. "I'm not bad am I Kakashi? It's not like she says right. I'm not…I'm not worthless right?" he said crying again as he was unable to hold back his tears. Kakashi pulled Naruto into a hug then and comforted the small boy whose body was racked with heartbreaking sobs. The jounin comforted the child by rubbing his back. When he had mostly calmed the man spoke to him._

"_No Naruto you're not a demon. That woman is the one that is acting like a demon." Then he held Naruto at arms distance from him so he could look Naruto directly in the eye. Naruto was looking at the ground rather than into his caregiver's eyes. Gently, Kakashi grasped Naruto's chin and looked into his sad blue eyes. _

"_You are not worthless, Naruto. Don't you ever forget that. No matter what anyone else tells you, there will always be someone here that loves you very much." Naruto's face brightened then as he smiled as he hugged Kakashi as much as his tiny arms would allow. _

"_Like you and Sasuke-nii right, and Iruka-nii too." Naruto said looking up at the masked man. The jounin tousled the child's golden hair fondly as he stood up._

"_Yes Naruto." Kakashi said smiling. "Them too." he said swinging the blond up onto his shoulders as the 6 year old laughed happily, his troubles forgotten for the moment._

…

"I'm not worthless." Fox said defiantly, his voice hard and cold. His bangs cast a shadow over his eyes hiding them from view. _'I did forget, but I won't again. Kakashi, Sasuke thank you.'_ He thought as he felt a massive surge of power flow through his body. It was red hot and comforting filling him with strength and energy.

"Did you say something brat?" the man asked in a mocking tone that quickly turned dark. "Are you saying I'm wrong? Well let's see how you like this!" He yelled getting ready to hit the child with his own sword. Fox's hand shot up snapping the thug's wrist with a loud crack. The thug screamed in pain and staggered backwards as Fox's chakra spiked wildly spiraling around his body in blue and red swirls in the shape of twin helixes. Fox looked up into their faces and the thugs could see his glowing blue eyes as the shadows vanished. As his energy spiraled around him, Fox pulled himself back onto his feet.

Fox's victim held his wrist with his good hand as he watched energy pour off the child's body. His mind instantly went back to what the mist demon had said. _"That boy is far from normal."_ He remembered as he felt the malevolence of the unnatural energy that poured off the boy in waves.

"I…am…not….worthless." Fox said again from the center of the vortex as he shifted to an upright position. The group of hired thugs could see the wooden shards dislodge themselves from the boy's back. They gripped their weapons tighter and braced themselves. A few of them got excited at the idea of a little challenge.

Their leader smirked in a sick way. "Looks like there is still some fight left in him, this might be fun after all." The first said still gripping his wrist. "Kill him!" he ordered. _'I'm getting that bounty on your head Gatou promised good money for it.'_ His men drew their weapons but remained hesitant to charge Fox while the mass of strange energy still surrounded him.

Fox bent down and picked up his sword from where it had been dropped, then settled into an unusual stance where he held the sword in an inverted grip with the blade out in his right hand and held his left hand palm out in front of him about level with his chest. With the swirling chakra around him now fading away he looked vulnerable now. Several men decided to take advantage of this and charged blindly at Fox thinking he was easy prey. Instead of running to meet them head-on, as most would expect the boy to do, he calmly did a series of one-handed seals using his left hand.

"Senmoufuu." He whispered with his voice like the wind where no one could hear him ending on the bird sign. Then he drew his right hand across his chest with the blade pointing outwards. With the moon shining down through the gap in the trees, the blade glowed silver. The thugs were only ten feet away when Fox's hand moved with the sword in a swinging motion back the way it had come. Many were confused until a second later when a blade of wind contained inside a whirlwind slammed into each and every one of the charging attackers. Those closest to the blond were thrown backwards about 15 feet with gapping holes in their chests and blood coming from their mouths. The luckier ones were blasted back but not cut to pieces in the process, most still coughed up blood.

The thugs didn't waste time now knowing that the blonde could do serious damage. However, they soon realized that Fox wasn't called that for no reason as he was up in the middle of the standing group before they realized that the boy could move that fast. Two men then swung their swords downwards to attempt the killing blows. One met with his inverted sword grip. Instead of blocking the second strike, he allowed it to graze his forearm and the slashed across the man's throat using his claw like nails, cutting his jugular vein, killing him and spraying blood everywhere. The man emitted a gurgling sound as his lifeblood drained away. His partner was then enraged and thus fell into the trap Fox had woven and ended up with Fox's sword planted in his stomach. He screamed in agony as the steel of the katana cut and twisted in his intestines. Crimson liquid dripped from the corners of his lips as he grit he teeth in pain.

'_I may die but I can hinder this little bastard.'_ The dieing man thought as he tightened his stomach muscles as he breathed his last breath falling backwards taking the boy's swords with him as he fell into a tree. Fox felt his sword be pulled from his grasp. Cursing the blond grabbed the hilt again and proceeded to rip it through the man's stomach and slice the nearest attacker's leg.

At that moment, one of the attackers stabbed the back of Fox's left shoulder. He yelled in pain and in blind furry turned and ripped out his attacker's throat using his feral claws. The dieing man noticed the boy's slightly elongated canines. In that action, Fox had to release his sword in order to keep from being killed as he dodged the first's counter strike. The result was a cut across his right leg just below the knee. Fox landed about five feet away and found he could not put much weight on his leg without having to drop to a knee. With his burning blue eyes, he surveyed the last three opponents. One picked up his fallen sword and Fox fought to keep the growl forming in his throat down.

"My my…..this is a nice blade." The leader said admiring it. "I think I'll keep it when I kill you." They said poising themselves to attack with it. Fox's eyes narrowed and shifted to red briefly as he was charged by the man using his own sword. He didn't move but waited for the attack to come. At the last second Fox ducked under the blade and in the process cutting himself above his left eye badly. Too late the man realized his mistake and was then run through by Fox's bare hand as it plunged into the man's chest. He could no longer breathe and began coughing blood as the sticky red fluid quickly filled his lungs. Many drops of it landed on Fox's face as they tried to pull away.

'_What is this boy? He's…not…human!'_ They thought seeing the boy's now demon-silted eyes turn crimson as his blood, which now splattered child's face. Using his left hand Fox ran through a quick series of one-handed seal and whispered in the voice of a reaper so only his target could hear.

"Kaze Kiri."

The results were instantaneous. The leader was cloven in half vertically by the force of the wind blade, which was then sent to both sides by refracting off the man's body and cutting into the last two thugs at the same time. The battlefield was quiet then and none of the thugs were moving that he could see. In pain, Fox fell to his knees in exhaustion. He took many deep breaths as the scene finally reached his mind. He couldn't stop himself as he vomited up everything in his stomach. _'I need to get to Zabuza and warn him.'_ He thought as he forced himself not to go into shock. To his left Fox saw his sword lying where it had been dropped. Grapping it he wiped the blood from it, using the leader's shirt pulled himself up using his most trusted blade.

Not one thug was left to oppose him as he continued to head for the bridge on the forest paths. He'd made his first kill and then some. However to say success meant he'd escaped harm was not the case. For his efforts, Fox was fighting near dangerous chakra exhaustion, several cuts that could prove mildly lethal if not dealt with, and other numerous minor cuts and scrapes. Should he meet another group of thugs that were fresh, the outcome would not be in his favor.

He paused to wipe the blood from his eyes so he could see more clearly and leaned heavily on his sword before he forced his feet to carry him to the bridge. Even if that one memory wasn't much…..it was all he needed to know that someone truly cared about him. Struggling onward, he kept moving. Even if it killed him, he would protect his family.

'_Wait for me guy_s_…I'm coming…..'_

Cool. So happy with this chapter. Anyways there's only two more chapters to go roughly. All the jutsu here are in the actual Naruto series. Look in the Actual Naruto episodes (**not Shippuuden) **217-220. It's the whole Garra arc right before the time skip. Senmoufu was used by the chick with the soaring short swords (say that five times fast). I think she may have used Kaze Kiri too, if not its used by Temari.

Ok since I've hinted at this to a few reviewers I'll go ahead and tell you. **There will be a sequel. **I'm actually writing part of it now and have outlines for a few chapters. Here's the fun part. I need help with a scene that will take place in the second chapter. **PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME OUT ON THIS ONE!** At the end of the last chapter or even as an epilogue type thing I will outline the limitations on the scene and give a peak at the new story. **THE ONE THAT I FIND THE BEST WILL BE PUT INTO THE STORY! I WILL GIVE CREDIT WHERE DUE! Also I'll give all entries a short scene from the actual story as a consolation prize. **

Review please. It makes me write faster.


	8. Chapter 8 Battle in the Mist

**A THOUSAND APPOLOGIES O PATIENT ONE'S! No seriously, sorry guys. Life reared its ugly head in the form of school, family drama, work, and my computer randomly deciding to say "You know what, I'm going to crap out and die for no reason." I never forgot the story, I just either lacked the time to write or nothing came out during a dry spell.**

Glad you're sticking with my story. Just to warn you, I borrowed a bit from the cannon for these fights. Simple answer is that I like them. I thought for the most part they fit everything pretty well and I don't need to change much to make what I want happen. Obviously there's gonna be a few differences at different points. Anyways enjoy, and don't complain to me about how things go cause I've warned you.

Chapter 8: Battle in the Mist

In the early morning light Haku stared at the bridge, intently searching for some trace of Fox. There had been no sign of him at the arranged meeting place should something go wrong. Plus he never reported in. In short, he was worried. It wasn't like Fox to be late or not report in. Zabuza appeared next to the masked ninja then.

"He's not here." Zabuza said with an air of finality. "Kakashi must have done something to him. We'll have to finish the job without him. We'll find out where he went after we're done. And for his sake he'd better have a damn good excuse." Zabuza said growling in annoyance.

'_I __hope __whatever __you__'__re __up __to __is __important __enough __to __merit __what __Zabuza __is __going __to __do __to __you __if __you__'__re __not __in __trouble.__'_ Haku thought going through the hand seals to make hidden mist jutsu.

The fog was natural and there was almost nothing strange about it. Many of the workers just kept on working as the fog wasn't anything new on the waterfront, most especially at night and early morning up towards noon. Several cried out in pain as senbon embedded themselves into their bodies. Zabuza was among them like a shadow as he took them down. None were killed, they didn't need to be, not one of them could stand up to Gatou's thugs let alone the two shinobi.

Haku's eyes searched for the man who seemed to be the foreman for the project while the old man was absent. _'__Perhaps __he __can __answer __our __questions.__'_ Before the man could react Haku had pinned him to the ground and shoved a senbon into his spine immobilizing him.

"I have a few questions for you…" he whispered with his ice like voice into the prone mans ear.

…

When Kakashi and Sasuke saw the fog they knew at once something was wrong. Tazuna had paled visibly at the sight. The jounin bolted forward with Sasuke just behind him as the ran into the mist. The sight that greeted them and Tazuna was something out of a nightmare at first glance. Workers were lying unconscious everywhere. They saw Zabuza and another shinobi standing at the end of the bridge where it would be extended to reach the opposite shore. This new person wasn't Fox. Sasuke's eyes searched the hazy mists only to turn up with nothing.

'_Where __is __Naruto?__'_ Sasuke thought not seeing Naruto anywhere. Zabuza stepped closer, his anger apparent on his face.

'_These __idiots __didn__'__t __know __anything, __so __that __means __Fox __was __caught __last __night __or __early __this __morning. __Though __seeing __how __Kakashi __wasn__'__t __here __earlier __that __means __either __Fox __could __be __dead __or __they __didn__'__t __manage __to __get __the __information __out __of __him.__'_ Zabuza reflected gazing on his handy work.

'_Why __is __he __not __with __them? __They __didn__'__t __kill __him __did __they? __I __wouldn__'__t __think __that __the __leaf-nin __would __do __that. __They __must __have __hidden __him __somewhere __until __this __is __all __over __to __keep __him __from __interfering.__'_ Haku thought not seeing the blond. Zabuza hefted the giant sword to his shoulder.

"Alright Kakashi, where is Fox? What did you do to him?" Zabuza hissed accusing them of hurting his scout. Kakashi was momentarily stunned.

'_He__'__s __asking __about __Naruto __first? __Why?__'_

"We haven't seen Naruto since yesterday." The jounin replied honestly. "And I wouldn't hurt him unless he attacked us first." Kakashi said his tension rising. _'__This __isn__'__t __good. __What __happened __to __Naruto?__'_

"Don't give me that bullshit! I know he came to see you yesterday. He never came back." Zabuza yelled harshly as he tightened his grip on the hilt of his massive blade. Kakashi's eyes never left the sword knowing how fast he could swing the blade despite its size. "What did you do to him Hatake!"

"I swear to you we did nothing to intentionally hurt him. We talked, he and Sasuke fought, and he left." Kakashi said coldly. "He had what I assume to be a minor shoulder wound when he left. The question is what did you do to him? The whole time he spoke to us it was like he was afraid of being caught." Kakashi barked back with a cool edge to his tone. "That doesn't strike me as a sign of good leadership on your part."

The masked shinobi spoke up then to both parties' surprise. "Where is he now?" they asked calmly but there was a hint of worry in their being. Sasuke had had all he could take at this point. They were keeping Naruto from him and he wasn't about to lose his brother again. His knuckles were white from gripping a fist so hard and he was shaking in anger. He could feel his nails biting crescents into the soft flesh of his palms.

"Why don't you tell us!" he yelled running at Haku ready to beat the answer out of this strange shinobi. Haku spun and narrowly dodged Sasuke's assault. The older boy darted off past him leading him away and further into the mists.

'_Shit! __Sasuke __what __the __hell __are __you __doing!__'_ Kakashi thought as his eyes widened. The jounin took off after his student then knowing Sasuke was getting in over his head. He realized he had his own problems to deal with as he ducked under the massive cleaver Zabuza swung.

"Did you forget Kakashi?" Zabuza remarked shouldering his massive blade. "I'm your opponent.

"Damn it! Tazuna get out of here! It's not safe!" The silver haired man said drawing a kunai. Tazuna didn't question the shinobi and took off running back towards town as fast as his old legs could carry him.

"Don't think that I won't find and kill the old man Hatake. I'll deal with you first and then kill him." Zabuza's voice said through the obscuring mists. Kakashi held his defensive stance as he tried to pinpoint the kiri-nin.

"There's just one problem with that, you'll have to get through me first." Kakashi said revealing his sharingan.

"Oh it shouldn't be too hard Kakashi." Zabuza's voiced seemed to be coming from several directions. "After all your trapped in my Kirigakure no Jutsu. As it stands you couldn't hit something right in front of you." he explained. "You see Haku was watching our last little fight the whole time. If there is one thing that boy is good at its finding the perfect counter strategy. With my mist I've neutralized you sharingan's influence. You can't see my movements, nor can you use that damned hypnosis effect. In short your greatest weapon is worthless."

"And what about you Zabuza? You can't see me either so how do you plan on killing me?" Kakashi questioned as he reached out with his chakra. The man nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt the kiri-nin appear behind him. He spun while blocking the blade and was knocked to the side from the momentum of the swing. His eyes landed on Zabuza only to find the man had his eyes closed.

"Simple, I'm a master of the silent killing technique. I don't need to see you to find you."

…

Sasuke rushed forward again this time forcing Haku to engage in taijutsu with him. While this stranger was fast Sasuke smirked knowing he had the advantage over the boy feeling the boy's muscles clench under his fist as he blocked.

'_He__'__s __not __a __taijutsu __user.__'_ Sasuke thought pressing his slight advantage. He couldn't help but feel flustered that he still wasn't breaking the cold calm façade that the shinobi bore. As Haku dodged his round house kick, he jumped back to create some distance from the brunet so to escape close combat.

'_All __I __need __to __do __is __maintain __my __distance __and __wear __him __down. __Once __I __do __that __I __can __beat __the __answers __out __of __the __brat. __First __I__'__ll __need __a __bit __more __water __for __what __I __have __in __mind __though.__'_ Haku thought as he planned while making two mizu bunshins. Sasuke jumped forward as he whipped two kunai out of his pouch and pressed the attack on his opponent. He dodged the first bunshin's attack as it launched them. He could hear the small splashes as they exploded on contact with the stone ground before ducking under the second's leg swipe.

Sasuke continued to dodge blows for the next few seconds when the opening presented itself. Using the slick terrain to his advantage he slid under the bunshins and did a fast spin with his blades out. On impact both bunshins exploded into water. Haku quickly brought up one of his trusted senbon and blocked the Uchiha's assault. The two remained in a deadlock as Sasuke grit his teeth trying to over come the other's defense.

"You just won't back down and answer me will you?" Haku responded in a frigged tone laced with irritation. Sasuke's eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare.

"Like hell I will. I know you have Naruto, now where is he!" Sasuke growled out as he fought to break the others guard. If it weren't for Haku's mask Sasuke would have seen the boy's eyes steel themselves in determination.

"As I thought….No matter I'll get the answers I want and you won't be able to keep up with my next move." He said gathering his chakra. "After all I'm already two steps ahead of you…"

Sasuke's eyes widened then. "Two steps?"

Haku smirked to himself. "Step one is the water on the ground." He explained as he did what Fox liked to call "mid-battle monologuing". It never failed to piss off the opponent and if one were to guess a trait the brunet had picked up from the mist demon. "And the second step is me keeping your arm busy leaving you unable to make hand signs. Therefore, you can only take and block my attacks." The boy explained. _'__If __he__'__s __anything __like __Fox __this __should __make __him __angry __enough __to __make __mistakes.__'_

"There's a problem with your logic though. You kept your own hands full as well. You can't make any signs either." Sasuke said with full confidence. Haku chuckled as he brought up a one handed ram seal.

"You would be wrong in that assumption." Haku replied with a hint of joy in his voice as he smirked behind his mask.

'_He __can __do __one __handed __seals!__'_ Sasuke thought in a near panic as he saw the teen rapidly flash through several signs before stopping and stomping water into the air.

"**Sensatsu ****Suishou**."

The water rapidly transformed into thousands of sharp needles that hovered in mid-air waiting to strike. Sasuke though was rather calm as he closed his eyes and focused. His eyes snapped open the seconds the needles shot forward. Seconds before they hit Sasuke's chakra exploded outwards creating space and throwing Haku several feet back. Haku managed to stay on his guard as he danced backwards through the water sending countless small drops into the air with his movements. Looking back he found his opponent wasn't there any more. Instincts honed by years of training with Zabuza and Fox made him look up to see Sasuke in the air coming down at him. Moving quickly, the kiri-nin flipped backwards to dodge the various shuriken the Uchiha launched. Each one was only inches from where he previously landed.

'_He__'__s __better __than __I __thought.__'_ Haku mused as the raven landed once again on the water soaked stone. _'__But __he __doesn__'__t __stand __a __chance __against __my __next __jutsu.__' _He tensed feeling Sasuke behind him, ready to move away at a second's notice.

"Pretty slow, now you're the one who can only block and receive." Sasuke said with a small amount of his Uchiha pride kicking in. With that he attacked only to miss as Haku vanished. Undeterred Sasuke forced Haku to dodge a thrown knife and move right into the path of his kick. The blow caught Haku on the edge of his mask and sent him crashing to the ground several feet away. He landed with a splash as the water soaked his clothing. The Uchiha settled into a partial defensive stance and looked dead at the kiri-nin, a blind man could see the cockiness in his eyes. He was disappointed to see his opponent stand up without much difference in demeanor.

"Not bad Uchiha, unfortunately you still have much to learn if you think that you've won." Haku said as his chakra peaked startling the Uchiha. "Now let my show you one of my own creations."

…

Kakashi sat still listening to the mists waiting for Zabuza to make his move. It had been like this for going on five minutes, something that was dangerous in a shinobi battle. Even more so one of this caliber. The jounin's eyes snapped open suddenly as he suddenly heard the displacement of the air behind him. The massive cleaver crashed into the stone shattering it like it had on all the other previous swings. The silver haired man wasn't prepared for the rapid reversal as the blade plunged straight into his abdomen ripping him in two. The dead body exploded in a shower of water that splashed loudly against the stone.

Zabuza spun and brought his sword to bear as Kakashi came in low from behind. Their blades met sending flashes of sparks into the dark mists surrounding them.

"You're annoying Kakashi. The same tricks in every fight." The bandaged man said trying to use his strength to cut straight through the other's defense. "Still I'd be worried about your other brat if I were you. Haku's not someone to take lightly." He said quietly over the metallic grinding of their blades.

"And why is that?" Kakashi said as his red eye pierced into Zabuza's.

"Haku's special." Zabuza said with almost a sadistic joy in his tone. He was proud of his top student. "He's on a whole other level in his skill, a level that despite his massive stamina and extra training can't even come close to."

Both shinobi felt the surge of energy then coming from their left. Kakashi didn't miss the satisfied gleam that appeared in the nuke-nin's eyes then.

"You might as well forget about your brat now Hatake. He's done for if Haku's using his kekke genkai." …

Sasuke tensed unsure of what was coming. The air coming off of the other teen was like ice, the same aura that his chakra was emanating as it became visible to the naked eye.

'_What __the __hell __is __this?__'_ He wondered tightening his grip on his two blades. He completely missed the shard of ice that began forming into a solid sheet behind him. The sound of the water completely freezing made him turn and look to see the massive panel cut off any escape route behind him. The crackling of ice sounded to his left then. There was another forming. He glanced around only to see that several were forming now all around him and even from above until they were now both trapped inside the dome. Looking about the Uchiha noticed slight reflective properties in the ice. Haku stepped backwards drawing Sasuke's attention once again as he stood flush against one of the panels.

"Makyō Hyōshō…..complete." he said coldly. To Sasuke's utter surprise the other boy touched the panel and then seemed to begin merging with it until he appeared to be nothing more than a reflection in a mirror. Then his image appeared almost instantly in each panel.

"They're mirrors….." He whispered incredulously.

"Correct Uchiha." Haku's many reflections said as they drew forth needles. "This is my ultimate skill. No one has survived it once I've trapped them here."

'_Damn __it __what __is __he __going __to __do?__' _Sasuke thought as a bead of sweat rolled down his back. He couldn't tell where the real one was at all with all the chakra flying through the air.

"Let me give you a little demonstration of what my true speed is Uchiha." Haku said readying his weapons.

Before Sasuke could react, he felt multiple needles pierce his skin all around his body. It took most of his willpower not to cry out from the pain as he hunched forwards taking deep breaths. From what he could see, Haku had been only a blur of movement. It was so fast he couldn't see what he had even done.

'_Did __he __multiply __himself? __It __was __too __fast __to __just __be __him__…__.It __had __to __be.__'_ He thought hissing as the pain flooded his senses. He noticed that all the images were still once more.

"Now will you tell me what I want to know or shall I continue with my demonstration?" Haku asked coldly with his next set of needles brandished.

Sasuke found himself on his knees breathing deeply as every cut stung like salt was being rubbed into it. A small trickle of liquid made itself known as he wiped it from his face before it could run into his eyes and blind him. Drawing his hand away he saw it was blood. _'__Damn __it. __How __the __hell __can __I f__ight __something __I __can__'__t __see?__'_ he wondered slowly regaining his feet. He couldn't find any serious injuries though. _'__Just __what __kind __of __technique __is __he __using?__'_ Sasuke wondered as he clenched his teeth in pain.

Haku just watched the boy struggle to his feet. _'__I __will __get __my __answers __Uchiha. __And __no __one __is __going __to __interfere.__'_ He thought to himself remembering his last conversation with his master.

"_Zabuza-sama, please let me get the information my way." Haku asked softly as he watched Zabuza contemplate their next move. The konoha-nins would be there within the next hour or so and if anyone knew where Fox would be they would. _

_The man's eyes opened quickly as he cast a look at his other student. Haku was wearing the mask that had suddenly appeared after Fox had joined them. With that mask it was like Haku could take on a new persona. It wasn't hard for the man to see his sheer determination. His scratchy laugh was soft then, filling only the small area. _

"_I see you don't want me to interfere then." He said. Haku said nothing as he waited knowing Zabuza had not said yes or no. "Hm, you're too easy on your opponents Haku…"_

"_I apologize Zabuza-sama." Haku said bowing his head. He knew all to well that he'd never killed anyone. A fact he hid religiously from Fox along with Zabuza. If Fox were to find out that one secret they'd never get the boy to harden himself. They waited in silence for several minutes then. _

"_Fine, I'll keep Hatake occupied with my own questioning. Don't disappoint me." …. _

Sasuke shoved himself into a kneeling position to recover from the last attack. His mind was working over time trying to solve this mess. _'__Think, __what __are __the __possibilities __of __this __technique?__'_ He thought as his eyes scanned the crystalline dome. _'__Replications __in __each __mirror. __The __problem __with __that __is __why __would __he __still __use __the __mirrors __instead __of __just __making __the __clones __like __before. __And __for __that __to __be __true __the __attack __would __be __slower__…__that __can__'__t __be __the __answer. __There__'__s __no __way __for __me __to __track __his __trajectory __either __so __how __does __he __do __it?__'_

Sasuke's eyes never left the mirrors or Haku's image in each one.

'_Those __mirrors __are __vital __to __his __technique, __maybe __if __I __were __to __remove __one __of __them __it __would __disrupt __the __whole __thing. __At __the __very __least __I __could __get __out __and __back __on __even __footing.__'_ The brunet thought standing quickly now that he'd had some rest. _'__The __mirrors __are __frozen __water, __fire __should __do __the __trick __easily.__'_ He told himself as he launched through several hand seals and converted his chakra to flames as he filled his lungs with fuel for his blast. Within the mirrors Haku tensed knowing a dangerous move was coming.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke bellowed out as the massive fireball launched from his mouth towards the closest mirror.

…

Tazuna ran as fast as he could to his home. _'__I __have __to __warn __Tsunami __and __Inari. __They __need __to __hide.__'_

As he was running down the dirt road he skid to a stop as a badly wounded blond kid staggered forward and fell away from the underbrush. The old man quickly moved to help the boy. When he was with reaching distance, Tazuna's eyes widened as he recognized his almost undertaker. However, this time the boy looked to be on his last legs. Blood covered a significant amount of his clothing and visible skin. Judging from the smears of dirt and plant matter sticking to his clothing he'd fallen a lot recently. Blue eyes met his own as his breath caught in his throat. Tazuna stepped back as the boy nodded to the old man and struggled to his feet by pulling himself up with his sword planted in the dirt. Sweat beaded on his brow and several wounds reopened themselves from the blond's effort.

Once again those blue eyes found his. He could see the determination there along with the overwhelming weariness. The boy took a shaky step forward while using the blade as a crutch and then another. Tazuna just watched almost in fascination, he couldn't believe this was the same kid that had almost killed him.

"Tazuna-san….." The raw and scratchy voice said tiredly. "Gatou's coming….you should…..warn the village and hide." The blond said as he drew even with the old man. The boy then shuffled slowly down the road toward the bridge. His pace was painfully slow.

'_What does he hope to accomplish in that state? He can barely stand…let alone fight. And why did he warn me about Gatou? Was that who hurt him?'_

"Why did you tell me this?" Tazuna called after the boy. He almost didn't expect the blond to give him answer. But the boy stopped in his movements and turned his head back to the old man.

"I remember." He said with a smile on his face. "I remember my family. I'm going to them." With that he continued to shuffle onward. Tazuna only looked after him a moment more before he ran the opposite direction towards the village. The boy had given them a chance despite what his teacher's goal was….he wasn't going to waste it.


	9. Chapter 9 Battle Concluded

Sorry had to split the fight into two parts because my chapter was getting to long to manage in the writing process. I pretty much wrote Sasuke vs Haku then went back and filled in Zabuza vs. Kakashi as I originally didn't intent to put that fight in. So ya, there's one more chapter after this one.

In other notes, no I have not died. I've just had many computer problems, creative dry spells, moving, and studying for grad school entrance exams. Thanks to all for sticking with me.

**Memories in the Mist**

****by Serradragon

Chapter 9: The Battle Concluded

His fireball hit with such force it became a stream of fire as it failed penetrate the mirror wall and created a circular barrier between Sasuke and the mirrors. The effect only increased the heat as the flames and heat rebounded on themselves and the mirrors. The intense flames licked the walls and roof of the crystal prison with a force beyond a C level skill should have done impressing Haku. When the blaze died out Sasuke looked to see what damage he'd done. Dark eyes widened in shock to see that there had been barely any to the damned mirrors.

"Simple flames can not melt these mirrors." Haku said as his reflections all moved in unison. "I told you, this prison is inescapable. None have ever broken my mirrors." He said as the mirrors began glowing. Sasuke braced himself for the massive barrage of needles. He couldn't hold back the scream of pain that was torn from his lips as he crashed harshly into the ground. Needled dotted his shoulders from where they had firmly planted themselves making any arm movement incredibly painful. Carefully he pulled three from his left shoulder blade and dropped them to the stone ground, returning feeling and mobility to that arm with a painful tingle.

'_There has to be a way around these attacks. Focus, see the attack. Visualize it coming and move before it hits.'_ He told himself as he pushed himself into a lunging position upon seeing the mirrors light up once again. He jumped to attempt avoiding another senbon strike but failed in the process, as several of the needles missed, Haku's foot slammed into Sasuke's back throwing him into the concrete.

With shaking legs and a few pants Sasuke managed to stand up. He spit some blood from his mouth while wiping the liquid mixture of sweat, blood, and condensation from his eyes. _'It was better. I almost saw it that time. Focus.'_

Haku silently fumed within his mirrors. _'Movement, reflexes, situational anaylzation ability…..they should be worn out by now. How is he still keeping up with me? The only other that lasted this long was Fox.'_ Haku wondered as he carefully considered his next move. These repeated attacks and his mirrors took more chakra than anyone would believe. Only his blond counterpart had the reserves to just throw around high cost jutsu like this. However, he had a job to do that it was to take out the boy and get answers. He began to flicker between the different mirrors then noting how the teen's eyes always stayed with him. ' _This will end it….'_He thought launching several needles for the brunet.

' _Focus, concentrate…..'_ Sasuke thought allowing his muscles to relax so as to speed up his movements. His pupils constricted as he simply reacted to the attack that came. He jumped clear over the attack escaping it unscathed. His now burning red eyes locked onto Haku's form. Suddenly, he had a feeling things were more in his favor.

'_He saw every move.' _Haku thought. _'But how? It shouldn't be possible.'_ He wondered.

'_Damn it I can't hear anything except Sasuke and this other boy's movements. Zabuza certainly lives up to his reputation.'_ Kakashi thought calmly as his let his eyes close, both to concentrate and conserve his chakra. _'It's been a long time since I've had to fight in such a bad situation. Sasuke, you're gonna have to handle yourself on your own for a bit. I just hope he can. Now how do I fight someone I can't see or hear?' _the jounin's mind raced as he ran the scenario through its various possibilities. _'There's a thought…..now lets see if I can pull it off.'_

Kakashi caught a glimpse of a flash of light coming from his left as he once again slowly slid open his eyes. _'Looks like Sasuke's calmed down and is thinking clearly now.' _

"Looks like Sasuke's doing well enough Zabuza." Kakashi said. "Perhaps you've overestimated your student's skills." Zabuza's chilling laugh rang through out the surrounding area.

"A little fire isn't going to be enough to stop Haku, his skills are better than that." The voice said, this time sounding all too close. It was only instincts born from years in the field that Kakashi managed to twist and avoid the brunt of the blade as it cut through the air and sliced across left side. The man's eyes widened in pain as his hand came up to stem the blood flow.

"You were too slow Kakashi. You're nothing but a one trick pony with nothing of your own making to offer." Zabuza taunted as he hefted the blade to rest leisurely against his shoulder. Kakashi's crimson fluid ran down the length of the lethal blade to the demons hand, joining the rest of the red spray that coated the man lightly. "Your worry over your brat made you lose your focus and control of that fancy eye of yours. Your skill at reading my movements is failing." Kakashi said nothing as he tried to get his breathing under control from the pain while tricking his blood to clot with his chakra. Not a good fix by any means but it would keep him from bleeding out too fast.

"If I were you Hatake, I'd quit worrying about that brat and worry about yourself. Haku won't be too much longer in killing him off. Besides I have a score to settle with you from last time, and I'd rather this be entertaining. There's no fun in killing you if you keep up such a pathetic charade of fighting skill." Kakashi chuckled then as he stood just a little straighter. His eyes locked with the mist demon's.

"Don't count Sasuke out just yet Zabuza. He's no ordinary genin. After all…" Kakashi said with a smirk. "He's the heir to Konoha's most superior clan."

"He's an Uchiha!" Zabuza said in surprise. "That's right." Kakashi said in a condescending tone. "His name is Uchiha Sasuke, born scion of the Uchiha clan's kekke genkai."

"He survived the massacre….." Zabuza said to himself. _'Yes, that explains why he was so skilled and matching Fox so easily.'_ He realized as he remembered the raven's sudden come back in their first encounter. The bandaged man chuckled before laughing loudly.

"If only my other subordinate was here to observe. Too bad, though after we're done here Hatake I'd love for you to tell me what you've done with him. In any case, Uchiha or not, your brat doesn't stand a chance." Zabuza said fading silently back into the mist, yet again.

_I need to end this now, before I lose Sasuke to his student.'_ The jounin thought as he slipped a small scroll from the small pocket on his vest. Soundlessly he whipped it open and swiped so blood across the numerous dark symbols that covered the scroll's insides as he unfurled the scroll to its full length of four and a half feet.

"Well, I'm sorry to ruin your fun Zabuza." Kakashi said seriously, as he whipped the scroll through the air before he tossed it up with a practiced hand, making it coil in on itself. He caught it in a modified tiger seal. "I know you love stretching these things out. But I'm thinking we should put an end to this now." Zabuza's laughter sounded from all around, something that was really beginning to grate on Kakashi's nerves.

"I'd love to see how you plan to back up those words Hatake." Zabuza intoned. "Either way I'll be getting the information out of you. So give me your best shot Hatake!"

"With pleasure." Kakashi said running through four basic hand seals. "Summoning: Earth Style Fang Pursuit Jutsu." He said slamming both hands and the scroll they contained into the stone beneath his feet. With a burst of chakra, chains of seal symbols shot into the stone before disappearing.

"What a waste Kakashi. You disappoint me." Zabuza said from his place in the mist. He could feel the movements of the air currents. The jounin wasn't moving. "If that's the best you can do-" His eyes snapped open as he heard the stone cracking under him and a massive pit bull lunged at him. He jumped to avoid the snapping jaws only to yell in pain as another set of teeth clamped down on his other leg. Several more dogs in various sizes came out in that same second. Teeth sank into the man's shoulder and ripped into the muscle incapacitating his main sword arm, leaving him pinned down.

"You shouldn't underestimate me Zabuza." Kakashi said standing. "I knew right from the start that if I couldn't hear or see you I'd have to smell you out." He said as the mist cleared to some degree, revealing that Zabuza was only thirty odd feet away. "My wasted jutsu was a summoning. I called my ninken to find and contain you. I wanted you to attack me and let you get past my guard. I used that time to mark you with the scent for them to follow."

"Your blood!"

"Yes very good Zabuza." Kakashi said calmly doing hand seals before grabbing his wrist and charging lightening based chakra into his palm. "You say I'm a wash out, that all I'm capeable of is copying my opponents." The silver haired man said as his eyes pierced the prone man. "Let me show you my original technique."

Sasuke launched a senbon at Haku only for another needle to bat his attack away as though it was just an annoyance.

"You have excellent form." Haku said coldly bringing up his right hand containing three needles. "You're attacks are very skillful." He said launching the needles at Sasuke for him to barely dodge them. "But you've reached your limit." Haku said taking in the younger's panting form.

"Reflexes, judgment, your abilities are failing. You're finished!" Haku said hitting him once again sending Sasuke flying into the ground in the center of the dome. "Now you will tell me what your team has done with Fox." Haku said appearing in front of the teen.

"Funny cause that's exactly what I want to know." Sasuke bit out as he struggled to his feet. "And his name is Naruto, not Fox." The raven said spitting out a bit of blood while glaring at the boy. "I don't care what it takes, but I will find out what you've done with my brother." The masked shinobi slowly lowered his raised arm.

"Is that why you care so much for him?" they asked, killer intent gone for the moment, replace by curiosity. "He's your brother?" Cautiously Sasuke lowered his stance in response, his eyes fading to the dark grey the normally were.

"He was my best friend, but…I feel like he's my brother. We understood each other on a level that I didn't even have with my real brother." Sasuke said slowly talking about the past. It had been years since he had spoken about this to anyone. "My family was slaughtered before my eyes, by my older brother. Naruto…"his eyes slid closed remembering. "Naruto was there for me after that happened. He kept the darkness from overwhelming me." Sasuke explained as his mind went back to that night he hated so much.

"Then…he disappeared in the forest….." He said slowly. "It was during a night training session. We couldn't find any trace of him except for his bloodstained jacket…He was just gone." He said quietly just barely loud enough for the other to hear him. The pain in his eyes changed to resolve as he locked eyes with the other masked ninja. "It nearly killed me to lose him then and now that I've almost gotten him back you're trying to take him away again." Sasuke said as his rage built. "I'll kill you before I let that happen." Sasuke said eyes resuming the same red glow as his bloodline reactivated. Sasuke's balance was thrown when his opponent chuckled lightly.

"He's like my little brother too." The teen said stepping forth from the mirrors. "I don't want to see him get hurt again." He said reaching up for his mask. The mask came off and he and Sasuke locked eyes, both seeing the same caring in them.

"You really are the one he spoke of in his sleep." Haku said suddenly surprising Sasuke. The raven took a few steps forward as he dropped his kunai. He knew he had left himself horribly open but he didn't care.

"You…you mean he remembers me!" he asked in disbelief. His hope was crushed when Haku sadly shook his head.

"No." Haku said. "When we found him, he was unconscious. His fever was so high I thought he was burning alive from the inside out and was babbling nonsense. His shoulder and back were sliced open, it was a miracle that he wasn't dead. The only thing that made any sense was 'Sasuke-nii'. He called your name frequently through the night. And when the fever broke and he came to he didn't even remember his own name." Haku said looking up into Sasuke's eyes. "You could be what he needs to remember his past. I don't want him to end up like I did, as nothing more than a tool to be used." Haku said staring into Sasuke's eyes. "He deserves to have his own life, not one indebted to Zabuza-sama."

At that moment, their chakra ran low from sustaining of their respective bloodlines. The two dropped to one knee in exhaustion. Around them the ice mirrors turned back into water, which cascaded to the ground around them. Both Haku and Sasuke sat there panting for air. Hearing footsteps approaching they both grabbed weapons prepared to fight. From the mists emerged Naruto.

"Naruto!"/"Fox!" Sasuke and Haku yelled.

The blond looked horrible. Naruto could barely stand up even leaning on his sword. That itself looked beat up as well, the blade was chipped and ready snap under his weight even though he weighted next to nothing. His whole body shook and both teens could see the numerous wounds on his body and the drying blood that was sprayed across his face and clothes.

"What happened?" Haku asked darting to stand next to his partner.

"Gatou….double-crossed…us…You have to….tell…Zabuza." Naruto whispered with some difficulty. They both could see he was exhausted and in a lot of pain. Looking at Sasuke he said, "Sasuke…." The Uchiha saw a difference in those blue pools. Naruto remembered him for who he was.

"Gatou's…on his….way…here…..you have to….go."

Suddenly both Haku and Naruto locked eyes sensing the attack by Kakashi on Zabuza. Haku blurred from existence then. Naruto moved but it was too quickly for his injured body to handle. He fell face first to the ground and coughed up some blood. To Sasuke's horror he watched Naruto struggled to his feet, pulling open his half-closed wounds spilling even more of his blood to splash on the paving stones.

"Stop it!" Sasuke said trying to help him from getting worse. "Why are you killing yourself for them?" Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes and was breathing harder. "You don't have to do this."

"Sasuke its….not that simple." Naruto whispered, "I don't have a choice. I owe Zabuza a life debt. One that he's all to keen on collecting if I don't pay it." The blond stood, finally catching his breath while swaying on his feet, before he started to make his way across the bridge towards the fighting jounin. Sasuke could only stare after him in hurt and shock.

'_Naruto…'_

….

Kakashi moved in for the finishing strike with his chidori. As he was about to land the hit a mirror of ice materialized in front of him. The strike penetrated the mirror easily but it kept going and to Kakashi's horror impaled the other shinobi that had come with Zabuza. _'NO, I didn't mean to hit him!' _Haku coughed up blood then before turning to look up at his master.

"Zabuza….I..fill…Naruto's…Debt…Gatou is…..coming…." He said before his eyes slid closed. The mist nin smirked as his grip tightened on the hilt of his sword.

"You were wrong Kakashi, looks like I get one more chance." Zabuza said swinging his sword downwards to kill Kakashi fully prepared to cut straight thru Haku's body to do it.

Kakashi's eyes widened as the sword sung towards him. The sword smashed the concrete underneath its blade as it's downward stroke was finished missing Kakashi who had grabbed Haku and then dodged the attack.

"You'd kill your own student to finish me. You're hopeless, you don't deserve the title shinobi." Kakashi said darkly while laying down Haku's body. The two launched at each other resulting in a dance of blades and evasion.

"Haku!" they heard screamed with the agony of losing a close friend. That voice was unmistakably Naruto's and broke Kakashi's concentration causing him to pause. Zabuza took advantage and brought down his cleaver. On a reflex Kakashi spun clear and drove his second kunai into Zabuza's other arm at the elbow, rendering both of his arms practically useless.

"Now what Zabuza, you're through. There's no one for you to hide behind now." Kakashi said with a hint of distain and finality in his normally calm neutral tone.

Laughing reached the group then. Turning they saw Gatou surrounded by several dozen thugs. "So this is the real demon of the mist. Ha, you're about as demonic as a wet kitten." He said moving forward. Stopping in front of Haku he smirked. "And I was so hoping to pay him back for this injury." With that he drove his foot into Haku. As he reached back to do it again there was a scrape of metal against stone.

"Don't you dare touch him." Naruto hissed quietly. Gatou smirked and started laughing. The blond was no threat to him, the boy could barely stand up, judging how he was leaning on his blade.

"So my men failed to kill you impressive, still it doesn't matter you won't survive this time." Gatou said. _'So you killed some of my hired help, its no big deal. The fewer people I have to pay the better.'_ He thought taking in the injuries the boy had.

"Gatou why exactly are you here?" asked Zabuza annoyed by this intrusion. _'It seems the boy was right about the slimy fat bastard. Still I want to hear it from the asshole's mouth before I kill him.'_ Zabuza thought tensing. He may only have his legs and mouth, but under no circumstances should a shinobi be underestimated, particularly the Demon of the Bloody Mist.

"Frankly you're too expensive so I've decided to 'terminate' your contract. Still these guys didn't come cheap so I'd appreciate it if you would get rid of some of them." Gatou said kicking Haku hard enough to move the body. Naruto seeing Zabuza do nothing about this drove him to the edge of his sanity. Struggling towards Kakashi and Zabuza he let his feelings be known.

"How can you just stand there and let him do that! Haku gave up everything for you. Everything!,…even his dreams and now when he even gave his life for yours you don't even care. Didn't he mean anything to you?" he yelled, tears just ready to fall from his eyes but he forced them back.

"Haku served his purpose and now he's useless. He was a tool. It is the shinobi way, you know that Fox." Zabuza said carelessly not even looking him in the eye. It was as if the boy wasn't worth his attention. Fox would not take that as an answer. It was wrong, they were people not tools!

"And that makes it right?" he spat moving closer the Kiri-nin. "Do you want me to take his place now? If that's the case you should have left me to die because I'm not throwing my life away for yours you bastard!" He yelled grabbing Zabuza's shirt dropping his sword which clattered on the stones. The man didn't even respond to his yells. Fox was infuriated beyond rational action. He reared back his fist ready to punch Zabuza then, but the hit didn't come. Naruto never saw Zabuza's kick as it crashed into the side of his head knocking him unconscious. The blond crashed into the ground and rolled three feet before ending up on his side, his head wound beginning to bleed again.

The Kiri-nin looked behind him as he felt a spike of killing intent directed his way. If looks could kill Zabuza would have died 9 times over from Kakashi's glare. The silver haired man watched as Zabuza began tearing the bandages that covered his face away with his teeth.

"Take him Kakashi. He's your headache now, his debt is paid." He said after removing the bandages. _'He'll never know just how deep his words cut.' _Zabuza thought casting one last look at the blond laying there with blood dripping from his forehead. _'Maybe that's how it should be. I will miss the both of them.'_

"Uchiha give me a kunai." Zabuza said turning slightly. Kakashi turned around to see Sasuke standing there in shock with rage in his blood red eyes. The boy had unlocked the Sharingan.

'_If his chakra wasn't drained I think Sasuke just might attack him.'_ Kakashi thought seeing Sasuke poised in a stance with a kunai at the ready regardless of the fatigue coming off of him. It was barely there, but anyone trained would be able to detect a faint trace of killer intent. As good as Sasuke's determination to still fight was, it just wasn't necessary any more.

"Give it to him Sasuke." Kakashi said. Sasuke looked surprised and glanced between the two of them. His eyes demanded to know why. "He's not our opponent any more."

"You're sure?" Sasuke asked tentatively. When Kakashi nodded Sasuke tossed his current kunai towards the Kiri-nin, who caught it in his teeth and shot towards the thugs. Zabuza proceeded to tear his way through the thugs and bodyguards intent on reaching Gatou. Those that reached him first met an agonizing death at the hands of the demon of the mist. The nuke-nin seemed to be ablaze with fire and the atmosphere screamed killer intent.

'_This man really is a demon!'_ Gatou thought. Zabuza's kunai stabbed the fat man in the chest but it didn't kill him spraying his lifeblood on the ninja. Several thugs planted their spears into Zabuza's back.

"Ha, looks like I won't be going with you to follow after your brats." Gatou hissed through the pain. The fat man coughed blood while screaming in agony as Zabuza twisted the kunai in his stomach.

"We won't be going where they go. No it's the other place we're going. I'll fit in quite nicely there, but you…I'm sure there's something special in store for you there." And with that Zabuza ripped the kunai through the man's chest in an upward vertical motion. Zabuza followed up by rotating quickly and completing a horizontal slash knocking him into the water below them after an eruption of blood.

…..

"Sasuke you take care of Naruto. I'm going to see about this other kid." Kakashi said heading towards Haku's body. He knelt down and felt for a pulse. _'It's faint but it's still there. His shield must have diverted my course to the side slightly. Without treatment he's going to die though.'_ He wasn't sure what to do with the boy until he remembered that Naruto seemed to truly care for him. With that thought, he bandaged the boy's shoulder quickly. _'It's not perfect but it'll hold until we can get back to the house. I just hope Sakura managed things on that end.'_ He thought with a sigh as he moved Haku over towards the other two boys.

Sasuke knelt next to Naruto and pulled his head into his lap. He tore a piece of his shirt to bandage the blood flow. His friend wasn't responding at all to his touch. Sasuke checked his pulse and found it slow. Not bad but Naruto was obviously injured to the point he needed medical attention.

"Come on Naruto don't quit on me. You've been through worse than this." He whispered. "Don't leave again little brother, please." He whispered so soft only Naruto would have heard him had he been conscious. Kakashi deposited the body of his opponent next to them and started to check Naruto's wounds.

A scream came from the other side of the bridge and Sasuke looked up to see Gatou fall into the water while Kakashi's hand flew to his pouch. Zabuza turned his attention to the other thugs. Many threw down their weapons and ran. Those that went for him didn't get back up after they were cut down. The Demon of the Bloody Mist hacked, carved and disemboweled his way though the mass of thugs. Some of the more intelligent cannon fodder turned the other way intent on raiding the village to get their money that way.

'_This is not good. Zabuza's at his limit while I've got three half dead preteens on my hands.'_ Kakashi thought looking up from Haku's body and he quickly formed the seals for a jutsu. _'Let's hope this works.'_

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He said calmly forming somewhere around twenty-five shadow clones. The sight of multiple Kakashis scared the rest of them into jumping from the bridge to get away. It was over.

Zabuza staggered over towards Haku's body then and collapsed beside him. His eyes widened then at the bandage on Haku's shoulder. He chuckled to himself then.

"Guess I really can't follow you after all Haku." He said as his lifeblood continued to drain away. He reached out and gently touched the older boy's cheek. His eyes shifted to see the unconscious blond with his head in the Uchiha's lap. Kakashi and Sasuke were probably the only people alive that could say they saw Momichi Zabuza look at someone with gentleness and care.

"I will miss you and Fox…my sons." Zabuza finished as his hand dropped, he lacked the strength to even lift it. "Kakashi tell Haku…he is free to do what ever…it is he wants…That…is my….final…wish." The mist-nin wheezed out as his lungs began filling with his blood. Kakashi nodded and clasped the dying ninja's hand. He would not deny a dying man's final request, enemy or not.

"Of course." He said and with that Zabuza breathed his last breath. He looked back at Sasuke holding Naruto's head and back down at Zabuza. "Thank you for giving him back to us. Rest in peace, Momichi Zabuza." And with that he pulled down his head band to cover his Sharingan.

...

Glad y'all enjoyed it. I'm sorry about the formatting errors, I think I got them fixed.


End file.
